MESSENGERS OF GODLY PEACE PRONOUNCED HAPPY

Jehovah's Organization on the Move


In 613 B.C.E., Ezekiel saw in vision Jehovah's heavenly, chariotlike organization on the move. (Ezekiel 1:4-28) Afterward, Jehovah said to him: "Son of man, go, enter in among the house of Israel, and you must speak with my words to them." (Ezekiel 3:4) In this year of 1997, we discern that Jehovah's heavenly organization is still moving inexorably to fulfill God's purposes. Hence, we still feel impelled to tell others about those purposes. In his day, Ezekiel spoke words that were directly inspired by Jehovah. Today, we speak words from Jehovah's inspired Word, the Bible. And what a message that book has for mankind! while many are worried about the future, the Bible shows that things are far worse-and at the same time, far better-than they imagine.

Things are worse because, as we learned in the previous articles, Christendom and all other false religions will soon be destroyed, as completely as was Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. Furthermore, the whole global political entity, pictured in the book of Revelation as wild beast with seven heads and ten horns is about to be wiped out, as were many of the pagan neighbors of Jerusalem. (Revelation 13:1, 2; 19:19-21) In Ezekiel's day Jehovah vividly described the terror inspired by the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. But his words will have far more meaning when people discern the imminent destruction of this world. Jehovah said to Ezekiel: "As for you, O son of man, sigh with shaking hips. Even with bitterness you should sigh before their eyes. And it must occur that, in case they say to you, 'On account of what are you sighing?" You must say, 'at a report.' For it will certainly come, and every heart must melt and all hands must drop down and every spirit must become dejected and all knees themselves will drip with water. 'Look! It will certainly come and be brought to occur,' is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah." (Ezekiel 21:6, 7; Matthew 24:30) Fear-inspiring events lie just ahead. Our deep concern for fellow humans moves us to sound the warning, to tell the "report" of Jehovah's coming wrath.

At the same time, for meek ones things are far better than most people imagine. In what way? In that Jesus Christ has died for our sins and now rules as King of God's Kingdom. (1 Timothy 1:15; Revelation 11:15) The seemingly intractable problems of mankind will soon be overcome by means of that heavenly Kingdom. Death, sickness, corruption, hunger and crime will become things of the past, and God's Kingdom will rule unopposed over a paradise earth. (Revelation 21:3, 4) Mankind will enjoy godly peace-a peaceful relationship with Jehovah God and with one another. -Psalm 72:7.

Next time: Conclusion of Jehovah's Organization on the Move

Watchtower, 1997

MESSENGERS OF GODLY PEACE PRONOUNCED HAPPY

The Happiness of God's Messengers

Can you picture their happiness when they realized what a privileged position they enjoyed? As a group, they echoed the words of Isaiah 6:10: "Without fail I shall exalt in Jehovah. My soul will be joyful in my God." The promise of Isaiah 35:10 was fulfilled upon them: "The very ones redeemed by Jehovah will return and certainly come to Zion with a joyful cry; and rejoicing to time indefinite will be upon their head. To exultation and rejoicing they will attain, and grief and sighing must flee away." Such was the happiness of Jehovah's messengers of godly peace back in 1919 as they set out to preach the good news to all mankind. From then on down till this day, they have not ceased to perform this task, and their happiness has increased. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated: "Happy are the peacemakers, since they will be called 'sons of God.' " (Matthew 5:9,) The truthfulness of that pronouncement has been experienced by the remnant of anointed "sons of God" from 1919 until today.

As the years passed, the number of the Israel of God swelled until the 1930's when the gathering of the remaining ones of the anointed neared completion. Did the increase in the number of preacher of the good news then stop? By no means. A great crowd of Christians with an earthly hope had already started to appear, and these were joining their appointed brothers in the preaching work. The apostle John saw this great crowd in vision, and the way he describes them is noteworthy: "They are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night." (Revelation 7:15) Yes, the great crowd got busy serving God. As a result, when the number of the anointed began to decrease, following 1935, the witnessing work was carried forward with increased momentum by these faithful companions.

In this way Isaiah 60:3, 4 was fulfilled: "Nations will certainly go to your light, and kings to the brightness of your shining forth. Raise you eyes all around and see! They have all of them been collected together; they have come to you. From far away your own sons keep coming, and your daughters will will be taken care of on the flank." The happiness that these developments brought to the Israel of God is beautifully described at Isaiah 60:5, where we read: "At that time you will see and certainly become radiant, and your heart will actually quiver and expand, because to you the wealthiness of the sea will direct itself; the very sources of the nations will come to you."

Next time: Jehovah Organization on the Move

Watchtower, 1997

MESSENGERS OF GODLY PEACE PRONOUNCED HAPPY

Conclusion of Identifying God's Messengers Today

Earlier in this century, there was powerful evidence that a Creator Cyrus was at work. Who was he? None other than Jesus Christ, enthroned since 1914 in the heavenly Kingdom. This great King showed goodwill toward his anointed brothers on earth when, in the year 1919, anointed Christians were freed from spiritual captivity and returned to their "land," their spiritual estate. (Isaiah 66:8; Revelation 17:4) Thus Ezekiel 11:17 had a modern-day fulfillment. In ancient times it took the fall of Babylon to open the way for Israelites to return to their land. In modern times the restoration of the Israel of God was evidence that Babylon the Great had experienced a fall at the hands of Greater Cyrus. This fall was announce by the second angel of Revelation chapter 14, when he cried out: "Babylon the Great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication!" (Revelation 14:8) What a reversal for Babylon the Great, especially for Christendom! And what a blessing for true Christians!

At Ezekiel 11:18-20, we read the prophet's description of the happiness of God's people after their restoration. the first fulfillment of his words meant the cleansing of Israel in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. The modern-day fulfillment meant something similar. Let us see how. Jehovah says: "They will certainly come [to their land] and remove all it disgusting things and all its detestable things out of it." Just as prophesied, starting in 1919, Jehovah cleansed his people and reinvigorated them to serve him. They began to remove from their spiritual environment all the Babylonish practices and doctrines that polluted them in his eyes.

Then, according to verse 19, Jehovah goes on to say: "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I shall put inside them; and I shall certainly remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." In harmony with these words, in 1919, Jehovah united his anointed servants, gave them "one heart," so to speak,in order that they would serve him "shoulder to shoulder." (Zephaniah 3:9) Further, Jehovah gave his people holy spirit to invigorate them in the witness work and to produce in them the fine fruitage described at Galatians 5:22, 23. And rather than an unresponsive, stonelike heart, Jehovah gave them a soft, pliable, obedient heart, a heart that would respond to his will.

Why did he do this? Jehovah himself explains. We read at Ezekiel 11:20: "In order that they may walk in my own statutes and keep my own judicial decisions and actually carry them out; and they may really become my people and I myself my become their God." The Israel of God learned to obey Jehovah's law rather than follow their own ideas. They learned to do God's will without fear of man. thus, they stood out as different from the imitation Christians of Christendom. They were Jehovah's people. As such, Jehovah was ready to use them as his messenger, his "faithful and indiscreet slave." -Matthew 24:45-47.

Next time: The Happiness of God's Messengers

Watchtower, 1997

MESSENGERS OF GODLY PEACE PRONOUNCED HAPPY

Identifying God's Messengers Today

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

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

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

Next time: Conclusion of Identifying God's Messengers Today

Watchtower, 1997

NO PEACE FOR THE FALSE MESSENGERS!

The UN as a Peacemaker?

Could not the United Nations become a true messenger of peace? After all, the preamble to its charter, put forward in June 1945, just 41 days before the atom bomb devastated Hiroshima, stated its purpose: "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." The 50 prospective members of the United Nations were "to unite [their] strength to maintain international peace and security." Today the UN has 185 member nations, all supposedly dedicated to the same cause.

Over the years, the UN has been loudly acclaimed, especially by religious leaders. On April 11, 1963, Pope John XXIII signed his encyclical entitled "Pacem in Terris" (Peace on Earth) in which he stated: "It is our earnest wish that the United Nations organization-in its structure and in its means-may become ever more equal to the magnitude and nobility of its tasks." Later, in June 1965, religious leaders, said to represent one half of the world's population, celebrated in San Francisco the 20th birthday of the UN. Also in 1965, Pope Paul VI on a visit to the UN described it as "the last hope of concord and peace." In 1986, Pope John II cooperated in promoting the UN International Year of Peace.

Again, during his visit in October 1995, the Pope declared: "Today we are celebrating the Good News of God's Kingdom." But is he actually God's messenger of Kingdom good news? Speaking of world problems, he went on to say: "As we face these enormous challenges, how can we fail to acknowledge the role of the United Nations Organization?" The UN, rather than God's Kingdom, is the Pope's choice. (So what does that tell you. He doesn't have a clue as to what the Good News of God's Kingdom is nor does he know what peace is, neither does the UN.)

Next time: Reasons for 'Weeping Bitterly'

Watchtower, 1997

NO PEACE FOR THE FALSE MESSENGERS!

MESSENGERS-false or true? There were both kinds in Bible times. But what of our day? At Daniel 12:9, 10, we read that a heavenly messenger told God's prophet: "The words are made secret and sealed up until the time of the end. Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will certainly act wickedly, and not wicked ones at all will understand; but the ones having insight will understand." We are now living in that "time of the end." Do we see a sharp distinction between "the wicked ones" and "the ones having insight"? Certainly we do!

At chapter 57, verses 20 and 21, we read the words of God's messenger Isaiah: " ' 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. There is no peace,' my God has said, 'for the wicked ones.' " How aptly these words describe this world as it approaches the 21st century! What do messengers having insight have to tell us?

The apostle John had divinely inspired insight. At 1 John 5:19, it is stated: "We know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." In contrast with this world are the 144,000 spiritual Israelites, an aging remnant of whom are still with us. Joining these today are "a great crowd . . .out of all the nations and tribes and peoples and tongues,,," who now number more than five million, who also have insight. "These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation." And why are they rewarded? Because they too "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" by exercising faith in Jesus' ransom. As messengers of light, they too "are rendering [God] sacred service day and night." -Revelation 7:4, , 14, 15.

Next time" So-Called Messengers of Peace

Watchtower, 1997