for any man of the house of Israel or some alien resident who is residing as an alien in your midst who eats any sort of blood, I shall certainly set my face against the soul that is eating the blood, and I shall indeed cut him off from among his people. For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have put it upon the altar for you to make atonement for your souls, because it is the blood that makes atonement by the soul in it. That is why I have said to the sons of Israel: ‘No soul of you should eat blood and no alien resident who is residing as an alien in your midst should eat blood.’ As for any man of the sons of Israel or some alien resident who is residing as an alien in your midst who in hunting catches a wild beast or a fowl that may be eaten, he must in that case pour its blood out and cover it with dust. For the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood by the soul in it. Consequently I said to the sons of Israel: ‘You must not eat the blood of any sort of flesh, because the soul of every sort of flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it will be cut off.’” In the sixth of the Ten Commandments the sacredness of life was again emphasized in the words, “You must not murder.”—Lev. 17:10-14; Ex. 20:13.

12. What is set out in the Ten Commandments, which Jehovah wrote on the stone tablets?

¹² The Ten Commandments stated ten basic laws or rules governing the Israelites. They were inscribed by God himself by the power of holy spirit on two stone tablets that were given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Rightly they occupied the preeminent place in the law code given to Israel, though remaining part of it. They set out basic laws or principles, rules of conduct governing first the relationship of the Israelites to God and then their relationship to the family unit and to one another. The first four emphasized the need for wholehearted and exclusive worship of Jehovah as God and obedience to his commandments. The fifth showed the need for family unity, the children respecting the father and mother; and the remaining five related to dealings with fellow creatures: not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to testify falsely against another, not to covet, that is, not to desire wrongfully something that belongs to another.—Ex. 20:1-17.

NATION OF ISRAEL PROVIDES WARNING EXAMPLE

13, 14. (a) What would result to Israel by obedience to God’s laws? (b) What blessing did come to them, and why did this not last?

¹³ Obedience to Jehovah’s laws would bring untold blessings to the Israelites. His commandments would guide them in wholesome conduct that would promote unity in the nation, good health and happiness. But most important of all, they would direct them in right worship, in right conduct that would be pleasing to Jehovah their God, and would ensure his favor. Their obedience would protect them from false religion and from immoral practices that would lead to sin and rebellion and eventually rejection by God.

¹⁴ True to his promise, God did lead the Israelites to a land flowing with milk and honey. (Ex. 3:8; Num. 13:27) After many experiences the nation was settled in the Promised Land, Canaan or Palestine, and it is reported that under the rule of King Solomon “peace itself became his in every region of his, all around. And Judah and Israel continued to dwell in security, everyone under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.” (1 Ki. 4:24, 25) But such blessings did not last. Repeated disobedience to God’s law finally reaped its proper reward—rejection by God as his people. Instead of blessings, there came upon the nation the curses that God had foretold for such disobedience.

15. (a) Upon what two basic commands was the relationship of Israel to Jehovah based? (b) Why would any hypocritical form of worship not deceive Jehovah?

¹⁵ While the law covenant had the Ten Commandments as a foundation, the relationship of the nation with God was based really on two fundamental principles—love of God and love of neighbor. (Deut. 6:5-9; Lev. 19:18) Faithfulness to these two principles was most essential to remaining in God’s favor. Weakness or temporary failure due to human imperfection, while bringing correction and reproof, could still be forgiven, but when the nation lost its love for God and no longer served him with a whole heart this could only lead to disaster. (1 Chron. 28:9; Prov. 4:23) No hypocritical form of worship could deceive him, for Jehovah is a God who ‘sees the heart’ and who is ‘searching the hearts’ of men. The hearts of the greater number of the people of Israel turned from love of God and neighbor to love just for themselves, and Jehovah discerned this. He could see the wicked deeds performed, first in the dark and then openly in the daylight, as the hearts of the people became hardened in bad conduct.—1 Sam. 16:7; Jer. 17:10.

16. (a) How did calamity come upon that nation? (b) How did the prophet Jeremiah explain the reason for this?

¹⁶ The Israelites entered the Promised Land in 1473 B.C., and the land was finally subdued under them in the time of King David, whose reign of forty years ended in 1037 B.C. Forty years later the nation was torn in two by jealousy and rivalry, and so, following the death of King Solomon in 997 B.C., the original nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel to the north with Samaria as capital, and the two-tribe kingdom of Judah to the south with Jerusalem as capital. The northern ten-tribe kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians in 740 B.C., and then in 607 B.C. the kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians. Not long before this end to the kingdom of Judah, Jeremiah uttered to them these words: “‘“For I solemnly admonished your forefathers in the day of my bringing them up out of the land of Egypt and down to this day, rising up early and admonishing, saying: ‘Obey my voice.’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, but they kept walking each one in the stubbornness of their bad heart; and so I brought upon them all the words of this covenant that I commanded them to do, but that they did not do.’” Furthermore, Jehovah said to me: ‘Conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have returned to the errors of their forefathers, the first ones, who refused to obey my words, but who themselves have walked after other gods in order to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I concluded with their forefathers. Therefore this is what Jehovah has said, “Here I am bringing upon them a calamity that they will not be able to get out of; and they will certainly call to me for aid, but I shall not listen to them.”’”—Jer. 11:7-11. Compare Deuteronomy 6:12-15 and Deut 28:15, 45-47.

17. What temporary restoration did the Israelites receive?

¹⁷ Jehovah, in his great mercy and in fulfillment of his promise and purpose, did restore a remnant of the nation from Babylon back to the Promised Land after a period of seventy years’ desolation. Once again good news of this deliverance came to the people of Israel while in a captive state. This remnant of natural Israel was returned to Palestine in order that Jehovah’s worship might be restored there, though they were not restored as an independent nation, a separate kingdom.

18. Did the nation of Israel prove “worthy of the good news” that was proclaimed to them?

¹⁸ Did that ancient nation of Israel in the end prove “worthy of the good news” that had been preached to them by Moses down in Egypt? Did they fulfill the promise made by their forefathers to do all that Jehovah commanded them and to be truly his people, doing his will? The inspired Record answers No! Their complete unworthiness as a nation was clearly seen by their attitude toward Jesus, the promised Messiah, whom they rejected and had impaled on a stake. Just before his death Jesus pronounced judgment upon the nation when he said: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her,—how often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings! But you people did not want it. Look! Your house is abandoned to you.”—Matt. 23:37, 38; Luke 23:18-25; Acts 2:23.

19. (a) What great privilege had the Israelites enjoyed while they were faithful? (b) When God finally rejected that nation, did this mean the end of God’s dealings with mankind?

¹⁹ The Israelites had enjoyed the high privilege of being a nation of Jehovah’s witnesses. (Isa. 43:10-12) Not that they were commanded to preach concerning Jehovah to all the other nations of the earth; but they had been set apart for Jehovah’s exclusive service and worship. By the wonderful works that Jehovah performed on behalf of them and by their practicing true worship when they were faithful, Jehovah made a great name for himself. But they could only continue as his witnesses by holding to true worship and honoring the covenant he made with them and by obeying his commandments. This they failed to do. So Jehovah cast off natural Israel. The law covenant arrangement with them came to an end, being fulfilled in Jesus and its law being nailed to the torture stake. (Col. 2:14) But this did not bring to an end all of God’s dealings with men. Now, with Christ Jesus as Mediator, a new covenant arrangement was inaugurated, not with natural Israel, but with a nation producing the right fruits, whose conduct would be worthy of a heavenly kingdom of God with Christ as King.—Heb. 8:6; Matt. 21:43.

Innocence Established

In Brazil one of Jehovah’s witnesses was employed, along with a worldly man, to dig a well. They worked until the well got to be quite deep; then an accident occurred. The working companion of the Witness fell into the well and was killed. The police took the Witness into custody to be questioned and possibly charged with murder, since oftentimes murders are committed under these circumstances. It looked very bad for the Witness, since there were no persons to prove him innocent. Finally the police asked him to show his identification documents. He did not have them with him. The only thing he had with him was his minister’s identification card signed by the congregation servant and which identified him as being one of Jehovah’s witnesses. He showed it to them. When they discovered that he was in fact one of Jehovah’s witnesses, the attitude of the police changed entirely. They said, “We know that Jehovah’s witnesses do not kill. You are an innocent man.” The Witness was immediately released.