are, therefore, a thousand years left to run. Without Satan and his demons to disturb mankind it will indeed be a restful time. It will be like a sabbath. In a way it will be a sabbath within a sabbath. The last thousand years of God’s great seven-thousand-year rest is a special sabbath over which the Son of man will be Lord.​—Matt. 12:8.

Since Satan is to be loosed along with his demons for a “little while,” by the end of this sabbath millennium mankind will have to be considerably changed, so that Satan will be unable to influence them so easily to take the course of wickedness that past history records. They will have to be helped so that they are able to withstand the final test at the loosing of the Serpent and the demons. This work, therefore, is to be done during the thousand-year reign of Christ. During his rule righteousness will be in the earth and the people will be taught righteousness. Christ and his 144,000 associate kings and priests will minister to mankind and raise them up from the imperfect state in which desires of the flesh have such a hold upon them. They will be able to make over their personalities and arrive at physical perfection. But as we go on farther into the Revelation prophecy we get much more detail and enlightenment on this, for the blessings that God has in store for mankind when the Great Disturber is out of the way are greater than man by his own reasoning can conceive.​—John 5:22, 28, 29; Acts 17:31; 2 Pet. 3:13; Eph. 4:22, 23.

Questions From Readers

● According to Luke 22:37, Jesus was to be “reckoned with lawless ones,” in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12. Are Christ’s disciples to be viewed as the “lawless ones” because some were carrying swords?​—A. F., U.S.A.

No, it does not appear that Jesus’ followers, even though they had two swords at that time, were the “lawless ones.” Rather, this portion of Isaiah 53:12 was fulfilled when he was impaled between two criminals. By examining the context of Jesus’ words we can better understand the point he was making. Luke 22:35-38 reads:

“He also said to them: ‘When I sent you forth without purse and food pouch and sandals, you did not want for anything, did you?’ They said: ‘No!’ Then he said to them: ‘But now let the one that has a purse take it up, likewise also a food pouch; and let the one having no sword sell his outer garment and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be accomplished in me, namely, “And he was reckoned with lawless ones.” For that which concerns me is having an accomplishment.’ Then they said: ‘Lord, look! here are two swords.’ He said to them: ‘It is enough.’”

The Lord was spending his last night with the disciples before his death. He realized that, once he was arrested and executed, conditions would change for them. When he had sent them out before, they had been welcomed and provided for by the people, but, in general, things were going to be more difficult now. (Mark 6:7-11) From this time forward they would not be welcomed by the majority, but would be rejected and scorned. Consequently, they would have to make some provisions for themselves.

After stating what their situation would be in the future, Jesus explained to his disciples why things were going to change; he gave them the reason. It was because he was to be killed, taken away like a transgressor and executed with lawless ones in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12. The “lawless ones” were not the disciples to whom he was speaking, but, instead, were the evildoers between whom Jesus was impaled. (Matt. 27:38) Some manuscripts have a verse inserted in Mark 15 directly linking these evildoers with the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12; but older and more reliable Bible manuscripts omit Mark 15:28.

After Jesus provided the explanation of why the disciples could expect problems ahead, Jesus’ followers commented: “Lord, look! here are two swords.” Not that Jesus’ followers customarily carried swords, but on this occasion they were provided. In mentioning a sword to them, Jesus was not recommending that they arm themselves for attack. Quite the opposite! His next words showed he had something else in mind and that he was using the swords to teach his followers an important lesson.

Shortly he was going to be arrested by an armed band, including Roman soldiers; and the circumstances could provoke armed resistance. (Matt. 26:47; John 18:12) In order to accomplish what was prophesied, however, Jesus chose not to resort to armed resistance but voluntarily allowed himself to be seized. The two swords would not be enough to defend the group victoriously against the mob, but they would be enough for the purpose of teaching a lesson, to emphasize that Jesus was submitting of his own will, freely, and not violently resisting, as his group was equipped to do. (John 18:11, 36) When Peter impetuously drew his sword and cut off the ear of the slave Malchus, Jesus reprimanded him. He said that “those who take the sword will perish by the sword”; besides, if he wanted to he could have called on the angels for help. (Matt. 26:52, 53) But that was not what he wanted. As shown by his not engaging the two swords for defense, Jesus was willingly giving himself to die on the stake between two “lawless ones.” As for Jesus’ faithful followers, they had learned their lesson well, so that Justin Martyr wrote in his Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew (155-160 C.E.): “We who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons,​—our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage.”

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

Over nineteen hundred years ago Jesus Christ said: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” (Matt. 4:4) These words are as applicable today as when they were first spoken. Jehovah’s Christian witnesses know this and so they realize that, to be spiritually nourished, it is important not to neglect the house of the true God. Regularly each week their meetings build them up spiritually and equip them to witness to others about God. During July, as they apply this training, they will be sharing with others one of the fine Bible-study aids that they use in their own congregation meetings. They will offer to all persons the book Life Everlasting​—in Freedom of the Sons of God, with a booklet, for only 50c.

TO KEEP YOU INFORMED

No generation in history has been as well informed as ours. The mass media of radio, television and the printed page, as well as specialized schools and employment training programs, are better equipping men for life and better acquainting them with the rapidly changing pattern of events that characterizes this generation. Yet where in all this vast area of education can we learn the outcome of this world’s affairs? Only in the Bible is such education to be found, and Awake! regularly transmits this instruction for life by keeping you informed on those issues that are helping to shape the destiny of this world. Read Awake! regularly. One year for only $1.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

August 6: Festivals of Praise to Jehovah, 1-18. Page 425. Songs to Be Used: 28, 118.

August 13: Festivals of Praise to Jehovah, 19-27, and The Three Annual National Conventions, ¶1-9. Page 431. Songs to Be Used: 7, 47.

August 20: The Three Annual National Conventions, ¶10-30. Page 438. Songs to Be Used: 9, 110.