Chapter Twenty-Three/The Second Woe - Armies of Cavalry -Myriads of Myriads - Conclusion

 Jehovah purposed that this plaguing message should "kill a third of the men." Hence, its specific target has been Christendom. But it has reached lands far beyond Christendom, including many where the hypocrisy of Christendom's religions is well known. Have the people of these lands drawn closer to Jehovah as a result of seeing the plaguing of this corrupt religious organization? Many have! There has been a ready response among meek and lovable people who live in areas outside Christendom's immediate sphere of influence. But as for the people in general, John describes their reaction: "But the rest of men who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, so that should  not worship the demons and idols of gold and silver and copper and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their spiritual practices nor of their fornication no of their thefts." (Revelation 9:20, 21) There will be no world conversion of such unrepentant ones. All her persist in their wicked ways will have to face adverse judgment from Jehovah in the great day of his vindication. But "everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will get away safe." - JOEL2:32; PSALM 145:20; ACTS 2:20, 21. 

What we have just discussed is part of the second woe. There is more to come before this woe runs is course, as we shall see in the chapters that follow. 

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 In other places, Kingdom literature continues to expose Christendom's Babylonish doctrines and ways, bringing her deserved harm in a figurative way. By using updated printing methods, this numerous cavalry in the 50 years before 1987 was able to distribute, in upwards of 200 of earth's languages, Bibles, books, magazines and brochures to the astronomical number of 7,281, 078, 415 copies-many times more than a literal two myriads of myriads. What a sting those tails have inflicted! 

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 A most zealous division of this cavalry is made up of brothers in lands where the work of Jehovah's Witnesses is under ban. Like sheep amidst wolves, these have to be "cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves." In obedience to Jehovah, they cannot stop speaking about the things they have seen and heard. (Matthew 10:16; Acts 4:19, 20; 5:28, 29, 32) Since they have little or no printed material to distribute publicly, must we conclude that they have no share in the cavalry charge? Not all!  They have their mouths and authority from Jehovah to use them to express Bible truth. This they do informally and persuasively, establishing studies in the Bible and "bringing the many to righteousness." (Daniel 12:3) Though they may not sting with their tails in the sense of leaving behind hard-hitting literature symbolic fire, smoke, and sulphur issue from their mouths as they witness tactfully and with discretion concerning Jehovah's approaching day of vindication. 

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 That cavalry needs equipment for the warfare.  And how wonderfully Jehovah has provided this! John describes it: "For the authority of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are serpents and have heads, and with these they do harm." (Revelation 9:19) Jehovah has ordained his dedicated, baptized ministers for this service. Through the Theocratic Ministry School and other congregation meetings and schools, he has taught them how to preach the word, so that they are able to speak authoritatively with "the tongue of the taught ones." He has put his words in their mouths and sent them forth to make known the judgments "publicly and from house to house." (2 Timothy 4:2; Isaiah 50:4; 61:2; Jeremiah 1:9, 10; Acts 20:20) The John class and the great crowd have behind a stinging message, corresponding to "tails," in the thousands of millions of Bibles, books, brochures, and magazines distributed over the years. To their opponents, who advised of coming "harms" from Jehovah, these armies of cavalry truly seem like two myriads of myriads. 

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 The great crowd has continued to declare its unqualified unity with the John class in pouring out the plagues on Christendom. In 1988 this great crowd made up more than 99.7 percent of the work force that Jehovah is using in the field. Its members are wholeheartedly in accord with the John class, concerning whom Jesus prayed at John 17:20,21: "I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word; in order  that they may all be one, just as, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with  you, that they may also be in union with us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me forth." As the anointed John class takes the lead under Jesus, the zealous great crowd shares with them in the most devastating calvary charge of all human history!

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 Has this crowd had a part in the cavalry charge that got underway in 1922 and that received particular emphasis at the Toronto convention in 1927? Under the direction of the four angels, the anointed John class, it certainly has! At the world-circling "Everlasting Good News "Assembly of 1963, it joined with the John class in a rousing resolution. This declared that the world "faces an earthquake of world trouble the like of which it has never known, and all its political institutions and its modern religious Babylon will be shaken to bits." The resolve was expressed that "we will continue to declare to all people without partiality the 'everlasting good news' concerning God's Messianic kingdom and concerning his judgments, which are like plagues to his enemies but which will be executed for the liberation for all persons who desire to worship God the Creator acceptably with spirit and with truth." This resolution was adopted enthusiastically at 24 assemblies around the globe by a grand total of 454,000 conventioners, of whom well over 95 percent were of the great crowd.  

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 In 1935 those of the Jonadab class were specially invited to attend the convention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. There, on Friday, May 31, J.F. Rutherford gave his famous talk "The Great Multitude," in which he clearly showed that this group of Revelation 7:9 (King James Version) was the same as the sheep of Matthew 25:33 -A dedicated group with earthly hopes. As a harbinger of things to come, at that convention 840 new Witnesses were baptized, most of them being of the great crowd.

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Chapter Twenty-Three/The Second Woe -Armies of Cavalry - Myriads of Myriads

 From 1918-1922, the John class began to hold out to distressed humanity the happy prospect that "millions now living will never die." In 1923 it was also made known that the sheep of  

Matthew 25:31-34 Would inherit life on earth under God's Kingdom. A similar hope was held out in the booklet Freedom for the Peoples, released at the international convention in 1927. In the early 1930's the upright Jehonadab class and the 'men sighing and groaning' over Christendom's sorry spiritual condition were shown to be identical with the spiritual sheep having earthly life prospects. (Ezekiel 9:4; 2Kings 10:15. 16) Directing such ones to modern-day "cities of refuge," the Watchtower of August 15,1934, stated: "Those of the Jonadab class have heard the sound of God's trumpet and have heeded the warning by fleeing to Gods people, and there they must abide." - NUMBERS 35:6. 

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 Nevertheless, those of the John class still remaining on earth number fewer than 10,000-less than one literal myriad. How  could they be likened o countless thousands of cavalry? To become myriads even in a symbolic sense, would they not need reinforcements? That is what they have needed, and by Jehovah's undeserved kindness, that is what they have received! From where have these come? 

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Chapter Twenty-Three/The Second Woe - Armies of Cavalry - Two Myriads of Myriads

 How can there be two myriads of myriads of this cavalry? A myriad is literally 10,000. So two myriads of myriads would come to 200 million. Happily, there are now millions of Kingdom proclaimers, but their number is far short of hundreds of millions! Remember, though, Moses' words at Numbers 10:36: "Do return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of thousands of Israel. (Compare Genesis 24:60) That would mean literally, 'Do return to the tens of millions of Israel.' Israel, however, numbered only about two or three million in Moses' day. What, then, was Moses saying? No doubt he had in mind that the Israelites should be unnumbered as "the stars of the heavens and like the grains of the sand that are on the seashore," rather than be counted. (Genesis 22:17; 1 Chronicles 27:23) So he used the word for "myriad" to indicate a large but unspecified number. Thus, The New English Bible renders this verse: "Rest Lord of the countless thousands of Israel." This agrees with a second definition of the word for "myriad" found in Greek  and Hebrew dictionaries: "an innumerable multitude," a "multitude." The New Thayer's

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament; Gesenius' A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. translated by Edward Robinson. 

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Chapter Twenty-Three/The Second Woe - Armies of Cavalry

 So, what does this cavalry symbolize? Just as the anointed John class started the trumpetlike proclamation of Jehovah's judgment of divine vengeance against Christendom, with authority to 'sting and hurt,' so we would expect the same living group to be used in the 'killing,' that is, in making known that Christendom and its clergy are completely dead spiritually, cast off by Jehovah and ready for "the fiery furnace" of everlasting destruction.  Indeed, all of Babylon the Great must perish. (Revelation 9:5, 10; 18:2. 8; Matthew 13:41-43) preliminary to her destruction, however, the John class uses the "sword of the spirit, that is, God's word, in exposing Christendom's deathlike condition. The four angels and the riders of the horses give direction to this figurative killing of "a third of the men." (Ephesians 6:17; Revelation 9:15, 18) This indicates poor organization and theocratic direction under the oversight of the Lord Jesus Christ as the awesome band of Kingdom proclaimers charges forth to the battle. 

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 Apparently, the cavalry thunders forth under the guiding direction of the four angels. What a fearsome spectacle! Imagine your reaction if you were to be the target of such a cavalry charge! Its very appearance would strike terror in your heart. Did you notice, though how similar this cavalry is to the locusts that preceded it? The locusts were like horses; in the cavalry there are horses. Both, then, are involved in theocratic warfare. (Proverbs 21:31) The locusts had teeth like lions. Both are therefore tied in with the courageous Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, who is their Leader, Commander, and Exemplar. - REVELATION 5:5; PROVERBS 28:1. 

Both the locusts and the cavalry share in Jehovah's work of judgment. The locusts emerged from the smoke that portended woe and destructive fire for Christendom, from the mouths of the horses, there issue forth fire, smoke, and sulphur. The locusts had breastplates of iron signifying that their hearts were protected by unbending devotion to righteousness; the cavalry wear breastplates colored red, blue, and yellow, reflecting the fire, smoke, and sulphur  of the lethal judgment messages that gush from the mouths of the horses.  (Compare Genesis 19:24, 28; Luke17:29, 30) The locusts had tails like scorpions for tormenting; the horses have tails like serpents for killing! It seems that what was started by the locusts is to be pursued by the cavalry with greater intensity to a completion. 

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 Remember, the heavenly angel has just sounded the sixth trumpet. Responding thereto, the sixth of the series of Bible Students annual international convention was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  The program there on Sunday, July 24, 1927, was aired through a chain of 53 radio stations, the most extensive broadcast network up to that time. That spoken message went out to an audience of possibly many millions. First, a forceful resolution exposed Christendom as spiritually dead and extended the invitation. "In this hour of perplexity Jehovah God bids the peoples to abandon and forever forsake 'Christendom' or organized Christianity' and to turn completed away from it . . . ; [let the peoples give their hearts devotion and allegiance wholly to Jehovah God and to his King and kingdom." Freedom for the peoples" was the title of the public talk that followed J.F. Rutherford, president of the Watch Tower Society, delivered this in his usual dynamic style, appropriate to "the fire and the smoke and the sulphur" that John next observes in vision. 

"And the number of the armies of cavalry was two myriads: I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw the horses in the vision, and those seated on them: they had fire-red and hyacinth blue and sulphur - yellow breastplates; and the heads of the horses were as heads of lions, and out of their mouths fire and smoke and sulphur issued forth. By these three plagues a third of the men were killed, from the fire and the smoke and the sulphur which issued forth from their mouths." -REVELATION9:16-18.

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 Happily, John can report: "And the four angels were untied, who have been prepared for the hour and the day and month and year, to kill a third of the men." (Revelation 9:15) Jehovah is a precise Timer. He has a timetable and is keeping to it. Hence, these messengers are released exactly on schedule and in time to accomplish what they have to do. Imagine their joy on coming forth from bondage in 1919, ready for work! They have a commission not only to torment but finally "to kill a third of the men." This is related to the plagues heralded by the first four trumpet blasts, which afflicted a third of the earth, the sea, the creatures in the sea, the fountains and rivers, and the heavenly light sources. (Revelation 8:7-12) The four angels go further. They "kill," exposing to a completion Christendom's spiritually dead condition. Trumpeted pronouncements made from 1922 onward and continuing to the present time, have accomplished this.

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 How had those angels been "bound at the river Euphrates"? The river Euphrates in ancient times was the northeastern border of the land that Jehovah promised to Abraham. (Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 11:24) Apparently, the angels had restrained at the border of their God-given land, or earthly realm of activity. held back from entering fully into the service that Jehovah had prepared for them. The Euphrates was also prominently associated with the city of Babylon, and after the fall of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., fleshly Israelites spent 70 years there in captivity, "bound at the great river Euphrates." (Psalm 137:1) The year 1919 found the spiritual Israelites in a similar restraint, disconsolate and asking Jehovah for guidance.

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 From 1919 onward, the symbolic locusts' invasion of Christendom has caused the clergy much discomfort. They have tried to stamp out the locusts, but these have kept to coming on stronger than ever. (Revelation 9:7) And that is not all! John writes: "The woe is past. Look! Two more are coming after these things." (Revelation 9:12) Further tormenting plagues are in store for Christendom. 

What is the source of the second woe? John writes: "And the sixth angel blew his trumpet. And I heard a voice out of the horns of the golden altar that is before God say to the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.' " (Revelation 9:13, 14) The angels ' release is in answer to the voice that comes from the horns of the golden altar, and twice previously the incense of the golden bowls from this altar has been associated with the prayers of the holy ones. (Revelation (5:8; 8:3, 4) Therefore, this one voice represents the united prayers of the holy ones on earth. They petition that they themselves be delivered for further energetic service as Jehovah's "messengers," this being the basic meaning of the Greek word here translated "angels."  Why are there four angels? This symbolic number seems to indicate that they would be so organized as to cover the earth in its entirety. - Compare REVELATION 7:1; 20:8.

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe - Locusts -World Rulers Put on Notice - Conclusion

 Rather than announce the incoming Kingdom of God, Christendom's clergy have chosen to remain with Satan's world. They want no part with the locust band and their King, concerning whom John now observes: "They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon [meaning "Destruction"], but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [meaning "Destroyer"]," (Revelation 9:11) As "angel of the abyss" and "Destroyer." Jesus had truly released a plague woe on Christendom. But no more is to follow.

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts -World Rulers Put on Notice

 At this convention, the symbolic locusts received further fighting equipment, notably a new book entitled the Deliverance. It included a Scriptural discussion of the sign proving that the 'man child' government, Christ's heavenly Kingdom had been born in 1914. (Matthew 24:3-14; Luke21:24-26; Revelation 12:1-10) Thereafter, the quoted manifesto published in London in 1918 and signed by eight clergymen, who were described as being "among the world's greatest preachers." They represented the leading Protestant denominations-Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Methodist. This manifesto proclaimed that "the present crisis points toward the close of the times of the Gentiles" and that the revelation of the Lord may be expected at any moment." Yes, those clergymen had recognized the sign of Jesus' presence! But did they want to do anything about it? The book Deliverance informs us: "The most remarkable part of the affair is that the very men who signed the manifesto subsequently repudiated it and rejected the evidence which proves that we are at the end of the world and in the day of the Lord's second presence. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts - World Rulers Put on Notice

 The modern-day locusts had a job to do. The Kingdom good news had to be preached. Errors had to be exposed. Lost sheep had to be found. As the locusts went about these tasks, the world was forced to sit up and take notice. In obedience to the angel's trumpet blasts, the John class had continued to expose Christendom as deserving of Jehovah's adverse judgments. In response the fifth trumpet, a particular aspect of these judgments was emphasized at a convention of the Bible Students in London, England, May 25-31, 1926. This featured a resolution, "A Testimony to the Rulers of the World," and a public talk at the Royal Alber Hall on "Why World Powers Are Tottering-The Remedy." the complete text of both of these being printed in a leading London newspaper the following day. Later, the locust bend distributed worldwide, as a tract, 50 million copies of that resolution-a torment indeed to the clergy! Years later, people in England still spoke of this stinging expose'.

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe - Locusts - Locusts Equipped for Battle

 This preaching involves more than the spoken word! "Also, they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months." (Revelation 9:10) What does this mean? As they go about their Kingdom work, Jehovah's Witnesses leave behind them publications-books, magazines, brochures, timely tracts. These contain authoritative statements, based on God's Word, for the people to read in their homes, and they have scorpionlike sting because they warn of Jehovah's approaching day of vengeance. (Isaiah 61:2) Before the present generation of spiritual locusts lives out its life span, its divinely ordained work of declaring Jehovah's judgments will be completed - to the hurt of all stiff-necked blasphemers. 

The locust band was overjoyed when a new magazine, The Golden Age, was announced at their 1919 convention. It was a biweekly magazine, designed to intensify the sting of their witnessing. Its issue No. 27, of September 29, 1920, exposed the clergy's duplicity in persecuting the Bible Students in the United States during the 1918-1919 period. Through the 1920's and 1930's, The Golden Age tormented the clergy with further stinging articles and cartoons that exposed their crafty dabbling in politics, and especially the Catholic hierarchy's accords made with the Fascist and Nazi dictators. In response, the clergy 'framed mischief by law' and organized mob violence against God's People. - PSALM 94:20, King James Version. 

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 In the vision, the locusts have iron breastplates, symbolizing unbreakable righteousness. (Ephesians 6:14-18) They also have men's faces, this feature pointing to the quality of love, since man was made in the image of God, who is love. (Genesis 1:26; 1 John 4:16.) Their hair is long like a woman's, which well pictures subjection to their King, the angel of the abyss. And their teeth resemble a lion's teeth. A lion uses its teeth to tear meat. From 1919 onward, the John class has again been able to take in solid spiritual food, particularly the truths about God's Kingdom ruled by "the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah," Jesus Christ. Just as the lion symbolizes courage, so great courage has been needed to digest this hard-hitting message, to bring it forth in publications, and to distribute it around the globe. Those figurative locusts have made a lot of noise, like the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle." After the example of the first-century Christians, they do not intend to stay quiet. - 1 CORINTHIANS 11:7-15; REVELATION 5:5. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts -Locusts Equipped for Battle

 What a remarkable appearance those locusts have! John describes it:  "And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads wee what seemed to be crowns like gold, and their faces were as men's faces, but they had no hair as women's hair. And their teeth we as those of lions; and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle." - REVELATION 9:7, 9. 

This well illustrates the loyal group of revived Christians in 1919. Like horses, they were ready for battle, eager to fight for the truth in the way described by the apostle Paul. (Ephesians 6:11-13; 2 Corinthians 10:4) On their heads Johns sees what seem be crowns of gold. It would not be proper for them to have actual crowns because they begin ruling while they are still on earth. (1 Corinthians 4:8; Revelation 20:4) But in 1919 they already had a royal appearance. They were brothers of the King, and their heavenly crowns were reserved for them provided they could continue faithful to the end. - 2 TIMOTHY 4:8; 1 PETER 5:4.

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts - Those Tormenting Locusts - Conclusion

 The torment lasts for five months. Is that a relatively short time? Not from the point of view of a literal locust. Five months describes the normal life span of one of these insects. Therefore, it is for as long as they live that the modern-day locusts keep stinging God's enemies. Moreover, the torment is so severe that men seek to die. True, we have no record that any of those who were stung by the locusts actually tried to kill themselves. But the expression helps us to picture the intensity of the torment-as though by a relentless assault of scorpions. It is like the suffering foreseen by Jeremiah for those unfaithful Israelites who would be scattered by the Babylonian conquers and for whom death would be preferable to life. - JEREMIAH 8:3; see also ECCLESIASTES 4:2, 3.

Why is it granted to torment these ones in a spiritual sense, and not to kill them? This is an initial woe in the exposing of the lies of Christendom and her failures, but only later, as the Lord's day progresses, will her deathlike spiritual state by fully publicized. It will be during the second woe that a third of the men are killed. - REVELATION 1:10; 9:12, 18; 11:14.

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe - Locusts - Those Tormenting Locusts

 What battle instructions did those locusts receive?  John reports: "And they were told to harm no vegetation of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but that these should be tormented five months, and the torment upon them was as torment as torment by a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days the men will seek death but will no means find it, and they will desire to die but death keep fleeing from them." - REVELATION 9:4, 6. 

Notice that this plague is not directed first against the people or prominent ones among them-the 'vegetation and the trees of the earth.' (Compare Revelation 8:7.) The locusts are to harm only those men who do not have the seal of God on the foreheads, those in Christendom who claim to be sealed but whose record belies that claim to be sealed but. (Ephesians 1:13, 14) Thus, the tormenting utterances of these modern-day locusts were directed first against the religious leaders of Christendom. How these self-assuming men must have been tormented at hearing it publicly announced that not only were they failing to lead their flocks   to heaven but they themselves would not get there! Truly, it has been a case of 'the blind leading the blind'! - MATTHEW 15:14.

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts - The 20th Century Plague - Conclusion

 As John observes, the release of the locusts is accompanied by much smoke, like "the smoke of a great furnace." That is how it proved to be in 1919. The situation darkened for Christendom and for the world in general. (Compare Joel 2:30, 31) The release of those locusts, the John class, was actually a defeat for Christendom's clergy, who had schemed and plotted to kill the Kingdom work for good and who now rejects God's Kingdom. Evidence of a smokelike pall started to spread over apostate Christendom as that locusts band was given divine authority and began to exercise it in proclaiming powerful judgment messages. Christendom's "sun"-her appearance of enlightenment suffered an eclipse, and "the air "became thick with declaration of divine judgments as "the ruler of authority of the air" of this world was shown to be Christendom's god. -EPHESIANS 2:2; JOHN 12:31; 1 JOHN 5:19. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts -The 20th Century Plague - Continue

 The account continues: "And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened, also the air, by the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke locusts came forth upon the earth; and authority was given them, the same authority as the scorpions of the earth have." (Revelation9:2, 3) Scripturally, "the abyss" is a place of inactivity, even of death. (Compare Romans 10:7; Revelation17:8; 20:1, 3) The small band of Jesus' brothers spent inactivity in such an "abyss" of relative inactivity at the end of the first world war (1918-1919) But when Jehovah poured out His spirit upon his repentant servants in 1919, they swarmed forth to meet the challenge of the work that lay ahead. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe-Locusts - The 20th Century Plague - Continue

Revelation, written some 26 years after Jerusalem's destruction, also describes that plague. What does it add to Joel's description? Let us take up the record, as reported by John: "And the fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given him." (Revelation 9:1) This "star" is different from that at Revelation 8:10 that John saw in the act of falling. He sees "a star that has fallen from heaven" and that now has an assignment with respect to this earth. Is this a spirit or a fleshly person? The holder of this "key of the pit of the abyss" is later described as hurling Satan into "the abyss." (Revelation 20:1-3) So he must be a might spirit person. At Revelation 9:11, John tells us that the locusts have "a king, the angel of the abyss." Both verses must refer to the same individual, since the angel holding the key of the abyss would logically be the angel of the abyss. And the star must symbolize Jehovah's anointed King, since anointed Christians acknowledge only the one angelic King Jesus Christ. - COLOSSIANS 1:13; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:25. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe -Locusts - The 20th-Century Plague

 Reasonably, we could expect Joel's prophecy to have a final fulfillment in the time of the end. How true this has proved to be! At the Bible Students convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A. September 1-8m 1919, a notable outpouring of Jehovah's spirit activated his people to organize a global campaign of preaching. Of all professed Christians, they alone, recognizing that Jesus had been enthroned as heavenly King, spared no effort in publishing abroad that good news. Their relentless witnessing, in fulfillment of prophecy became as a tormenting plague to apostate Christendom. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe - Locusts - A First Century Plague - Conclusion

 Was there a figurative plague during those days? Yes, indeed! It came as a result of the relentless preaching of the newly anointed Christians. Through, them, Jehovah invited those Jews who would listen to repent and enjoy blessings from him. (Acts 2:38-40; 3:19) The individuals who responded received his favor to a remarkable degree. But to the ones who refused the invitation, the first-century Christians became like a devastating swarm of locusts. Starting in Jerusalem, they spread through all Judea and Samaria. Soon they were everywhere, tormenting the unbelieving Jews by publicly proclaiming Jesus' resurrection with al that this implied. (Acts1:8; 4:18-20; 5:17-21, 28, 29, 40-42; 17:5, 6, 21:27-30) That plaguing continued until the "fear-inspiring day," in 70 C.E., when Jehovah brought the Roman armies against Jerusalem to destroy it. Only those Christians who in faith called on the name Jehovah were saved. - JOEL2:32; ACTS 2:20, 21; PROVERBS 18:10. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe -Locusts -A First Century Plague

 There was a fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 in the first century. It was then, at Pentecost 33 C.E., that holy spirit was poured out, anointing the first Christians and empowering them to speak the "magnificent things of God" in many tongues. As a result, a large crowd assembled. The apostle Peter addressed those astonished onlookers, quoting Joel 2:28, 29 and explaining that they were witnessing its fulfillment. (Acts 2:1-21) But there is no record of a literal insect plague at that time, causing discomfort to some and leading others to repentance. 

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Chapter Twenty-Two/The First Woe - Locusts

 The fifth angel prepares to blow his trumpet. Four heavenly trumpets have already sounded, and four plagues have directed to the third of the earth that Jehovah regards as most reprehensible-Christendom.  Her deathly sick condition has been uncovered. While angels sound the trumpet blasts, human heralds follow through on earth. Now the fifth angelic trumpet is about to announce the first woe, more fearsome even than what has gone before. It is related to a terrifying locust plague. First, though, let us examine other scriptures that will help us to understand the plague better.

The Bible book of Joel, written during the ninth century B.C. E., describes a plague of insects, including locusts, that is similar to the one that John sees. (Joel 2:1-11, 25) It was to cause much discomfort for apostate Israel but would also result in individual Jews' repenting and returning to Jehovah's favor. (Joel 2:6, 12-14) When that time arrived, Jehovah would pour out his spirit on "every sort of flesh," while fearful signs and alarming portents would precede "the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah." - JOEL 2:11, 28-32. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - A Flying Eagle - Conclusion

 An eagle flies high into the sky, so that people in a wide area can see it. It has exceptionally keen sight and can see a long wa7y ahead of itself. (Job 39:29) One of the cherubic living creatures around God's throne was pictured a flying eagle. (Revelation 4:6, 7) Whether it this cherub or another farsighted servant of God, it loudly proclaims a dynamic message: "Woe, woe, woe"! Let earth's inhabitants take note, as the three remaining blasts are heard, each of them linked to one of these woes.

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - A Flying Eagle

 These first four trumpet blasts truly resulted in uncovering the desolate and death-dealing condition of Christendom. Her part of "the earth" was exposed as deserving of Jehovah's judgment. Revolutionary governments springing up in her hands and elsewhere were shown to be inimical to spiritual life. The fallen condition of her clergy was laid bare, and the general darkness   of her spiritual condition was exposed for all to see. Christendom is the most reprehensible part of Satan's system of things. 

What more is there to reveal? Before we find the answer to this question, there is a brief pause in the series of trumpet blasts. John describes what he sees next: "And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven say with a loud voice: 'Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling on the earth because of the rest of the trumpet blasts of the three angels who about to blow their trumpets!' " - REVELATION  8:13. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - Darkness! - Conclusion

 In line with the heavenly proclamation, a capacity crowd of God's people assembled in convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A., on August 29, 1925, and adopted for publication a forthright resolution entitled "Message of Hope." Again, some 50 million copies were distributed in a number of languages. It described the false light held out by the combine of commercial profiteers, political leaders, and the religious clergy, as a result of which "the peoples had fallen into darkness." And it pointed to God's Kingdom as the real hope for receiving "the blessings of peace, prosperity, health, life, liberty, and eternal happiness." It took courage for the small band of anointed Christians to proclaim such messages against the giant organization of Christendom. But consistently, from the early 1920's until now, they have done so. In more recent time, in 1955, a further expose' of the clergy class was made by a worldwide distribution in many languages entitled Christendom or Christianity-Which one is "the Light of the World"?  Today, Christendom's hypocrisy has become so evident that many in the world can see it for themselves. But Jehovah's people have not let up in exposing her for what she is a kingdom of darkness.  

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - Darkness! - Continue

 Jesus said that Christians would be recognized by their fruits and that many claiming to be his followers would "workers of lawlessness." (Matthew 7:15-23) No one looking at the fruits  of the third of the world occupied by Christendom can deny that she is groping in spiritual darkness. (2 Corinthians 4:4) She is most blameworthy, for she claims to be Christian. Hence, it is only proper that the fourth angel should trumpet the fact that Christendom's "light" is, in fact, darkness, and her sources of  "light" are Babylonish-non-Christian. - MARK 13:22, 23; 2 TIMOTHY 4:3, 4. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom -Darkness!

 "And the fourth angel blew his trumpet. And a third of the sun was smitten and a third of the moon and a third of the stars, in order that a third of them might be darkened and day might not have illumination for a third of it, and the night likewise." (Revelation 8:12) The ninth plague on Egypt was a plague on literal darkness. (Exodus 10:21-29) But what is this symbolic darkness that come to the plague of men in our 20th century ?

The apostle Peter told fellow believers that they had been in darkness, spiritually speaking, before they became Christians.  (1 Peter 2:9) Paul too, used the word "darkness" to describe the spiritual state of those outside the Christian congregation.  (Ephesians 5:8; 6:12; Colossians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 5) But what about those in Christendom who claim to believe in God and who say they accept Jesus as their savior? 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom -A Star Falls From Heaven - Conclusion

 Since the third angel started to blow his trumpet, the clergy's position of dominance among mankind has been slipping until, in this day and age, very few of them retain the godlike powers they enjoyed in former centuries. Because of the preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses, great numbers of people have to realize that many doctrines taught by the clergy are spiritual poison-"wormwood." Furthermore, the clergy's power in northern Europe is almost spent, while in most Eastern European lands, as well as China, the government strictly curtails their influence. In Catholic parts of Europe and in the Americas, the clergy's scandalous behavior in financial reputation. From now on, their position can only get worse, since soon they will suffer the same fate as all other false religionists. -REVELATION 18:21; 19:2. 

Jehovah's plaguing of Christendom is not yet finished. Consider what happens after the fourth trumpet blast. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - A Star Falls From Heaven - Continue

 Outstanding in this connection was the proclamation made at what the Golden Age magazine described as "the greatest convention of Bible Students held during the age4s." This convention assembled in Columbus, Ohio, July20-27, 1924. No doubt at the direction of the angel that sounded the third trumpet, a forceful resolution was there adopted and later 50 million copies were distributed as a tract. It was published under the title Ecclesiastes Indicted. A subheading presented the issue: "The Seed of Promise Versus the Seed if the Serpent." The indictment their taking of high-sounding religious titles, their commercial giants and professional politicians the principal ones of their flocks, their desiring to shine before men, and their refusing to preach to the people the message of the Messiah's Kingdom. It emphasized that every dedicated Christian is commissioned by God to proclaim: "the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn. - ISAIAH 6:12, KJ. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - A Star Falls From Heaven - Continue

 When the clergy of Christendom apostatized from true Christianity, they fell from the lofty "heavenly " position described by Paul at Ephesians 26:7. Instead of offering fresh waters of truth, they served up "wormwood," bitter lies such as hellfire, purgatory, the Trinity, and predestination; also they led the nations into war, failing to build them up as moral servants of God. The result? Spiritual poisoning of those who believed the lies. Their case was similar to that of unfaithful Israelites of Jeremiah's day, to whom Jehovah said: "Here I am making them eat wormwood, and I will give them poisoned water to drink. For from the prophet of Jerusalem apostasy has gone forth to all the land." - JEREMIAH 9:15; 23:15. 

This fall from the spiritual heavens became apparent in the year 1919 when, rather than Christendom's clergy, the small remnant of anointed Christians was appointed over Kingdom interests. (Matthew 24:45-47) And from 1922 that fall was dramatized when this group of Christians renewed their campaign of frankly exposing the failings of the clergy of Christendom. 

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 John sees this particular star falling from heaven. How? The experiences of an ancient king help us to understand. Speaking to the king of Babylon, Isaiah said "O how you have fallen from heaven, you are shining one, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations!" (Isaiah14:13) This prophecy was fulfilled when Babylon was overthrown by the armies of Cyrus, and its king made an abrupt descent from world rulership to shameful defeat. Thus, a fall from heaven can refer to losing a high position and falling into ignominy. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/ Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - A Star Has Falls From Heaven

"And a third angel blew his trumpet. And a great star burning as a lamp fell from heaven, and it fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third of the waters turned into wormwood, and many of the men died from the waters, because these had been made bitter." (Revelation 8:10, 11) Once again other parts of the Bible help us to see how with scripture applies in the Lord's day. 

We have already met the symbolism of a star in Jesus messages to the seven congregations, in which the seven stars symbolize the elders in the congregations." (Revelation 1:20) Anointed "stars" along with all others of the anointed, inhabited heavenly places in a spiritual sense from the time that they are sealed with the holy spirit as a token of their heavenly inheritance. (Ephesians2:6, 7) However, the apostle Paul warned that from among such starlike ones would become apostates, sectarians, who would mislead the flock. (Acts 20:29, 30) Such unfaithfulness would result in a great apostasy, and these fallen elders would come to make up a composite man of lawlessness that would elevate himself to a godlike position among mankind. (2 Thessalonian 2:3, 4) Paul's warning were fulfilled when the clergy of Christendom appeared on the world scene. This group is well represented by the symbol of "a great star burning as a lamp." 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - Like a Burning Mountain - Conclusion

 The second trumpet blast reveals that those of mankind who got involved in revolutionary conflicts over government rather than submit to God's Kingdom are bloodguilty. Particularly Christendom's "third of the sea" has become as blood. All living things therein are dead in God's eyes. None of the radical organizations floating like boats in the third of the sea can avoid ultimate shipwreck. How happy we are that millions of sheeplike people have now heeded the trumpetlike call to separate from those who are still wallowing in the narrow nationalism and bloodguilt of that sea!

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom -Like a Burning Mountain - Continue

 The Fascist and Nazi experiments were snuffed out by the second world war, but government continued to be a fiery issue, and the human sea continued to churn and throw up new revolutionary governments. In the decades since 1945, these have been installed in many places, such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, and Nicaragua. In Greece an experiment in military dictatorship failed. In Kampuchea (Cambodia) an excursion into fundamentalism communism resulted in a reported two million and more deaths. 

That "mountainlike burning with fire" continues to make waves in the sea of mankind. Ongoing struggles over government are reported in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific islands. Many of these struggles are taking place  in lands of Christendom or where Christendom's missionaries have become activists. Roman Catholic priests have even joined up with and fought its members of communist guerilla bands. At the same time, Protestant evangelical groups have worked in Central America to counter what they call communist' vicious and relentless thirst for power." But none of these convulsions in the sea of mankind can bring peace and security. -Compare ISAIAH 25:10-12; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:3.

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - Like a Burning Mountain -

 Doubtless, this resolution came as a result of the sounding of the second trumpet. Those who would in due course respond to that message would separate from the goat-like group that Israel described in these words: "'But the wicked are like the sea that is being tossed, when it is unable to calm down, the waters of which keep tossing up seaweed and mire." (Isaiah 57:20; 17:12, 13) Thus, "the sea" well pictures restless, unsettled, and rebellious humanity that churns up unrest and revolution. (Compare Revelation 13:1) The time will come when that "sea" will be no more. (Revelation 21:1) Meantime, with the blast of the second trumpet, Jehovah pronounces judgment against a third of it-the unruly part that is in the realm of Christendom herself. 

A great mountainlike mass burning with fire is hurled into the "sea." In the Bible, mountains very often symbolized governments. For example, God's Kingdom is portrayed as a mountain. (Daniel 2:35, 44) Ruinous Babylon became a burnt-out mountain." (Jeremiah 51:25) But the mountainous mass that John sees is still burning. Its being hurled into the sea well represents how, during and after the first world war, the question of government became a burning issue among mankind, especially in the lands of Christendom. In Italy, Muss0lini introduced fascism. Germany embraced Hitler's Nazism, while other countries tried different forms of socialism. A radical changed occurred in Russia, where the Bolshevik revolution produced the first communist state, with the result that religious leaders of Christendom lost power and influence in what was formerly one of their strongholds. 

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Chapter Twenty-One/Jehovah's Plagues on Christendom - Like a Burning Mountain

 "And the second angel blew his trumpet. And something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the creatures that are in the sea which have souls died, and a third of the boats were wrecked." (Revelation 8:8, 9) What does this frightful scene picture? 

We may best understand it against the background of the convention of Jehovah's people held in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., on August 18-26m 1923. The featured Saturday afternoon talk by the Watch Tower Society's president was on the topic "Sheep and Goats." The "sheep" were clearly identified as those righteously disposed persons who would inherit the earthly realm of God's Kingdom. A resolution that followed drew attention to the hypocrisy of "apostate clergymen and 'the principal of their flocks,' who are worldly men of strong financial and political influence." It is called on the "multitude of the peace and order loving ones in the denominational churches . . . to withdraw themselves from the unrighteous ecclesiastical systems designated by the Lord as 'Babylon' " and to ready themselves "to receive the blessings of God's Kingdom.

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