“Let Down Your Nets for a Catch”

“He said to Simon: ‘Pull out to where it is deep, and you men let down your nets for a catch.’”​—Luke 5:4.

1. How are men likened to fish by Solomon and Amos?

THE common expression “You poor fish!” is not found in the Sacred Writings. However, the Holy Bible does use real fish to picture men. The famously wise King Solomon of Jerusalem, who in his three thousand proverbs spoke about cedar trees and hyssop, beasts and flying creatures, and other moving things and fishes, said: “Man also does not know his time. Just like fishes that are being taken in an evil net, and like birds that are being taken in a trap, so the sons of men themselves are being ensnared at a calamitous time, when it falls upon them suddenly.” (Eccl. 9:12; 1 Ki. 4:32, 33) To the oppressors of his people in the ninth century B.C.E., the prophet Amos said: “The Lord Jehovah has sworn by his holiness, ‘Look! There are days coming upon you, and he will certainly lift you up with butcher hooks and the last part of you with fishhooks.”’ (Amos 4:1, 2) Without fail the enemies of Jehovah God will be caught like unfortunate fish suddenly at a time on which they did not reckon.

2, 3. (a) Where and why did Jesus use a boat as a speaker’s platform? (b) What did he say in his parable of the dragnet?

² Sometime after the passover celebration of the year 31 of our Common Era a fishing boat that lay not far from the shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Middle East was used for another purpose than for catching fish. Jesus Christ used it as a speaker’s platform from which to give a series of prophetic parables to a great crowd that had practically forced him offshore. On finishing his wonderful speech, he dismissed the crowds, came ashore and went into a house. There his disciples asked him to explain the parable that he had given about the weeds that had been oversown by an enemy in the wheatfield. Jesus not only gave the desired explanation but also added a number of new illustrations, including the following one about the dragnet:

³ “Again the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet let down into the sea and gathering up fish of every kind. When it got full they hauled it up onto the beach and, sitting down, they collected the fine ones into vessels, but the unsuitable they threw away. That is how it will be in the conclusion of the system of things: the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous and will cast them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.”​—Matt. 13:47-50.

4. (a) Who are pictured by the “fine” fish that are put into vessels? (b) Who are pictured by the “unsuitable” ones that are thrown away?

⁴ Jesus’ illustrations of the kingdom of the heavens all have to do with persons who will be heirs with him in the heavenly kingdom. Accordingly, the “fine” fish that are collected into vessels for profitable use picture those from among mankind who prove themselves suitable for reigning with Jesus Christ in the kingdom of the heavens. (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1-5) God’s kingdom of the heavens was established at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. The faithful apostles and many others of the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ had died before then. Who, then, are those symbolic fish who are caught and then sorted out and put, as it were, into vessels in the conclusion of the system of things, in which we now find ourselves? They are merely the remnant of Kingdom heirs, who today make up the “faithful and discreet slave” class on earth. (Matt 24:45-47) The “unsuitable” symbolic fish that are cast into the symbolic fiery furnace to be destroyed are those Christians who prove unfaithful to the heavenly calling, thus becoming “wicked,” and who deserve to be destroyed.

5. Who are pictured by the ones fishing with the dragnet, and why?

⁵ In the fulfillment of the parable of the dragnet, who are the ones that do the fishing and the hauling of the dragnet up onto the beach and then sort out the fish? They are the angels. Certainly the Christians on earth are not the ones that separate the fine symbolic fish from the unsuitable, and cast these latter ones into the symbolic fiery furnace. The anointed Christians are not the ones authorized to determine who is suitable for God’s heavenly kingdom and who, on the other hand, should be everlastingly destroyed. They are not the judges of those who have become God’s anointed servants. (Rom. 14:4) The angels who accompany the glorified Jesus Christ when he comes into his heavenly kingdom at the close of the Gentile Times are the ones that do this separating work under the direction of Christ. (Matt. 13:40, 41; 24:30, 31; 25:31, 32) What, then, is the dragnet?

6. What, then, does the dragnet picture?

⁶ As Jesus’ parable depicts it, a dragnet gathers in fish and sea creatures indiscriminately. The Jews who were in a national covenant with Jehovah God were forbidden to eat certain fish and sea creatures. (Lev. 11:9-12) So Jewish fishermen had to sort out what a dragnet brought up. What was forbidden by God’s law they would throw away. In view of all this, the dragnet would symbolize an instrument in the hands of the holy angels under the direction of Jesus Christ. The dragnet symbolizes the earthly organization that professes to be God’s congregation that is in the new covenant with God through the Mediator Jesus Christ. So it claims to be the spiritual Israel, the holy nation that is anointed with God’s spirit to reign with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom. It includes the true professors and the false or unfaithful professors. Logically it includes Christendom, with its hundreds of thousands of professed Christians, belonging to hundreds of sects called Christian.

7. For the symbolic dragnet to gather in all sorts of fish, who must be employed under the angels, and how have “fine” fish been collected?

⁷ It is true that the symbolic dragnet is in the hands of the angels as a team of workers. But for the “dragnet” to gather in symbolic fish of all kinds, persons who belong to the “dragnet” organization have to work. They have to do a gathering work on earth in the name of Christianity. The heavenly angels do only an invisible work, but the organized members of the “dragnet” do the direct visible work. Only the smaller number of this “dragnet” organization really fish according to God’s instructions through Christ and according to Bible principles. As a result, only those workers would gather in true Christian “fish,” suitable for the heavenly kingdom. This fact the heavenly angels under Christ make manifest in the “conclusion of the system of things,” in which we find ourselves since the close of the Gentile Times in 1914. They have gathered the fine “fish” into symbolic vessels.

8. How did “fine” fish go into captivity to Babylon the Great during 1914-1918?

⁸ Years before the “conclusion of the system of things” began in 1914 the “fish” of the true Christian quality began gathering away from Christendom. Here and there around the globe they formed congregations separate from Christendom. But along came World War I, which was fought during 1914-1918 mostly by the nations of Christendom. During this war these separated congregations of truly dedicated, baptized Christians came into bondage to Christendom. Thus, since Christendom is the most powerful part of religious Babylon the Great, they went into a captivity like that of the Jews who went into exile in ancient Babylon after Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 607 B.C.E. But would they stay there?

9. Why was the “conclusion of the system of things” not the time for the “fine” fish to stay in captivity to Babylon the Great?

⁹ No! The Gentile Times had ended in 1914, the year in which World War I broke out, and as a consequence the “conclusion of the system of things” had set in. Jesus’ illustration of the dragnet marked this period the time for the separation of those who professed to be anointed heirs of the “kingdom of the heavens.” It was the due time for the heavenly angels under Christ to get busy and haul that symbolic dragnet up onto the beach and throw away the “unsuitable” ones and put the “fine” ones approved by God’s law into congregational “vessels.” This is what they did.

10. (a) When did the “fine” fish start coming out of such Babylonish exile, and how? (b) What experience are the “unsuitable” fish already having, and why?

¹⁰ From the spring of the year 1919 onward there was a coming out of the true Christians exiled in Babylon the Great. The call from heaven went forth: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (Rev. 18:4) Religious Babylon the Great is the world empire of false Babylonish religion, and it includes Christendom, which has tried to mix Christianity with Babylonish religion. So the call from heaven had to include their getting out of Christendom. The hundreds of millions of “unsuitable” symbolic fish that stay in Christendom are shortly to be cast into the symbolic “fiery furnace” and completely destroyed. Already, they are headed in that direction, since the hypocritical Christians are giving way to “their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth.” (Matt. 13:50) Why? Because they have not got out of Great Babylon as God’s true people should do; and so they are sharing in her sins and are already feeling the forerunners of her destructive plagues. Shortly they will perish with Babylon the Great and her political paramours at God’s due time.

11. What proportion of professed Christians came out of Babylon the Great, and how were they collected “into vessels”?

¹¹ Back there, in noteworthy contrast to those lovers of Babylon the Great, the anointed Christian witnesses of Jehovah responded to the heavenly call, in 1919. They were but a minority of professed Christians, a mere remnant of the true Christian congregation that Jesus Christ has been building during these past nineteen centuries. (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:1-42) Under angelic direction they were collected “into vessels,” as it were, that is, into congregations of liberated Christians, to be reserved for the service of Jehovah, the God and Father of Jesus Christ.

12. Why was this remnant of “fine” symbolic fish not taken at once to heaven?

¹² Though this remnant of the “fine” symbolic fish have hope of a share in the “kingdom of the heavens,” they were not taken at once to heaven, a thing that they had been expecting. In this “conclusion of the system of things” they had a work to do on earth before the end comes upon Babylon the Great and her political paramours and the armies of these.

13. (a) What besides giving a witness is accomplished by the Kingdom preaching? (b) From 1919 forward, why did the work of apostolic days need to go on?

¹³ Every quarter of the earth now knows what the true Christian work of the remnant is, for they have carried forward their work to the ends of the earth, in fulfillment of Jesus’ words: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) The giving witness to all the nations is not the only thing that is accomplished by the Kingdom preachers. There is also a separation work that results from such Kingdom preaching, and this under angelic direction. (Matt. 24:30, 31, 40-42) The separation work was not all accomplished in the liberation year of 1919. No, but in order for the foreordained number of 144,000 Kingdom heirs to be redeemed from the earth, more of the “fine” symbolic fish needed to be caught and put into the congregational “vessels.” The work that Jesus Christ began in the days of his twelve apostles needed to be continued on into this “conclusion of the system of things,” namely, fishing work. A grand catch was guaranteed!

A MIRACULOUS CATCH!

14. (a) What were some of John the Baptist’s disciples professionally, and how did Jesus meet four of them at the Sea of Galilee? (b) What was the best time for their occupation?

¹⁴ Nineteen hundred years ago a number of Jesus’ apostles were professional fishers at the Sea of Galilee. They were disciples of John the Baptist, and some days after his own baptism in water Jesus Christ became acquainted with them in the upper Jordan River valley, late in the year 29 C.E. (John 1:35-44) Some months later, in the following year, Jesus came in contact with these professional fishers right there at the Sea of Galilee. By then John the Baptist had been imprisoned by King Herod and Jesus had begun taking up the message of John the Baptist and proclaiming: “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.” (Matt. 4:12-17) One day Jesus was preaching God’s kingdom to crowds of people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee near where four professional fishers had been toiling with nets. Back there the most popular way for the Jews to fish was by means of nets of various sorts, four sorts of which are mentioned in the Holy Bible. (Hab. 1:15, 16; Eccl. 9:12; Ps. 35:7, 8) Nighttime was considered the best time for fishing, after sunset and before sunrise.

15, 16. (a) What was the occasion when Jesus told Simon and those in the boat with him to let down their nets for a catch? (b) What was the immediate effect of what then happened?

¹⁵ “On one occasion,” as Luke 5:1-10 narrates to us, “when the crowd was pressing close upon him and listening to the word of God, he was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret [Galilee]. And he saw two boats docked at the lakeside, but the fishermen had got out of them and were washing off their nets. Going aboard one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to pull away a bit from land. Then he sat down, and from the boat he began teaching the crowds. When he ceased speaking, he said to Simon: ‘Pull out to where it is deep, and you men let down your nets for a catch.’ But Simon in reply said: ‘Instructor, for a whole night we toiled and took nothing, but at your bidding I will lower the nets.’ Well, when they did this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish. In fact, their nets began ripping apart.

¹⁶ “So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and assist them; and they did come, and they filled both boats, so that these began to sink. Seeing this, Simon Peter fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying: ‘Depart from me, because I am a sinful man, Lord.’ For at the catch of fish which they took up astonishment overwhelmed him and all those with him, and likewise both James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were sharers with Simon.”

17, 18. (a) What did the four fishing partners realize had happened? (b) Why did Jesus not do as Simon asked him to do, but what did he do?

¹⁷ There were others with Simon Peter in his boat, particularly his brother Andrew, and possibly their father John. James and John were with their father Zebedee and hired men in the assisting boat. Peter, Andrew, James and John realized that Jesus had performed a miracle, suddenly causing a huge catch of fish from an area of waters where there had been none all night.

¹⁸ This increased their appreciation of Jesus Christ, whom they already knew personally. Peter, feeling now more than ever his sinfulness because of having such a holy man of God aboard his boat, asked the Lord Jesus to depart from him. But Jesus was not disposed to be alone in abandoning the boat. The time had come for him to have steady, regular followers in a literal sense. So Jesus calmed Peter’s fright due to his sinfulness, as the account tells us: “But Jesus said to Simon: ‘Stop being afraid. From now on you will be catching men alive.’” By this statement Jesus was comparing men with fish. But with whom was Peter to be catching men alive like fish? Why, with Jesus Christ himself, for then Jesus asked Peter to follow him in fishing for bigger game, namely, “men alive.” Jesus also invited Peter’s brother Andrew to follow him on this new enterprise. They both did so.

19. Meanwhile, what did James and John begin doing, and how long did they continue in this?

¹⁹ Meantime, as their nets had ripped apart at the miraculous catch of fish, almost overloading their boats, Peter’s sharers in the fishing business at Galilee, namely, James and John, along with their father Zebedee in the boat, began mending their nets. Then Jesus, followed by Peter and Andrew, came down the lakeshore and called out to James and John in their boat and invited them also to follow him in a larger fishing business. They did do that, for the account informs us: “So they brought the boats back to land, and abandoned everything and followed him.”​—Luke 5:10, 11.

20. How do Matthew and Mark describe the calling of the four fishermen?

²⁰ The apostle Matthew and the disciple Mark describe this calling of the four fishermen in a more condensed form, but Matthew and Mark show that Jesus issued a direct invitation to all four to become fishers of men. Mark 1:16-20 says: “While walking alongside the sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting their nets about in the sea, for they were fishers. So Jesus said to them: ‘Come after me, and I shall cause you to become fishers of men.’ And at once they abandoned their nets and followed him. And after going a little farther he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in fact, while they were in their boat mending their nets; and without delay he called them. In turn they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after him.”​—Matt. 4:18-20.

21. (a) How was Jesus, a professional carpenter, qualified to teach those four to fish for men? (b) What example assured them not to worry about making a livelihood as fishers of men?

²¹ Jesus himself there caught four human fish. Although he had been a professional carpenter in inland Nazareth, not a professional fisher, he knew how to catch symbolic fish of a human kind. Here he began doing so, more than six months after he was baptized in the Jordan River and anointed with God’s holy spirit. As an experienced man he knew also how to teach others to fish for men and catch them alive. With this end in view he called the four professional fishers to follow him personally and receive training. For this reason they had to abandon their fishing business at the Sea of Galilee. An ordinary fisherman can sell the fish he catches and thus make an earthly living. However, a fisher for men cannot sell men and thus make a livelihood off them. So how were Peter, Andrew, James and John to make their living as fishers of men, continually following the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest Fisher of them all? Well, Jesus himself had abandoned everything at the time that he went to John the Baptist to be baptized and he never resumed his carpenter work, and yet Jehovah God took care of him as a Fisher of men.

NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT LIVELIHOOD

22. (a) Why was there no reason to doubt making a success in fishing for men? (b) Why was this fishing for men not wrecked because of Jesus’ death?

²² There was no reason for these exfishermen to doubt that they would be successful in catching men as long as they acted under the direction of the Chief Fisherman, Jesus Christ. At his bidding Peter and Andrew had in faith let down their nets into the Sea of Galilee for a catch, in what were apparently barren waters, and yet they came up with such a catch that they had to call for the assistance of their partners James and John. Then their nets began ripping apart and the quantity of fish hauled aboard threatened to sink two boats. Now since Jesus could produce such successful fishing in the case of the scaly, finned creatures of the waters, he could likewise make successful catches in the case of human symbolic fish. Jesus’ death on the torture stake about three years later did not damage or put an end to this more important work of fishing for men. On the third day he was raised from the dead and was then in a position to revive the fishing operations of his faithful followers.

23. (a) Because of Jesus’ resurrection to the spirit realm, were the apostles in a worse position to fish for men? (b) How did seven disciples come to find themselves at the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ resurrection?

²³ True, Jesus was absent from them in the flesh, inasmuch as he had been raised from the dead as an immortal spirit Son of God and thenceforth confined himself to the invisible spirit realm. But he was now in a better position to make this work of fishing for men a complete success on a worldwide scale. He gave an encouraging assurance of this on one occasion more than a week after he was raised from the dead on the sixteenth day of the lunar month Nisan of the year 33 C.E. Through angels who appeared to certain disciples on his resurrection morning he told his faithful apostles to leave Jerusalem and the province of Judea and go north into the province of Galilee. There he would appear visibly and give them further instructions. (Matt. 26:32; 28:7-10, 16; Mark 16:6, 7) So it came about that on one occasion seven of Jesus’ disciples found themselves together near the Sea of Galilee, which was also called the Sea of Tiberias.

24, 25. After a period of fishing, what were the seven obliged to answer a questioner on the shore? (b) What did he tell them to do, and how did they afterward get to shore?

²⁴ When Peter said that he was going fishing, the six others said they would join with him. All night long they tried to net some fish but caught absolutely nothing. Then, at dawn, a figure stood on the shore. His voice carried to them across the waters to their little boat: “Young children, you do not have anything to eat, do you?” They called back No! Well, then, did he say to quit?

²⁵ Here is what we read: “He said to them: ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ Then they cast it, but they were no longer able to draw it in because of the multitude of the fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus used to love said to Peter: ‘It is the Lord!’ Hence Simon Peter, upon hearing that it was the Lord, girded about himself his top garment, for he was naked, and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not a long way from land, only about three hundred feet away, dragging the net of fishes. However, when they disembarked onto land they beheld lying there a charcoal fire and fish lying upon it and bread. Jesus said to them: ‘Bring some of the fish you just now caught.’ Simon Peter, therefore, went on board and drew the net to land full of big fishes, one hundred and fifty-three of them. But although there were so many the net did not burst.”

26. (a) Why might a question have been raised then as to who he was? (b) How was this the third time that he appeared to his disciples after his resurrection?

²⁶ At the time of this manifestation of Jesus he was not in the same materialized body as previously. This is why we read: “Jesus said to them: ‘Come, take your breakfast.’ Not one of the disciples had the courage to inquire of him: ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after his being raised up from the dead.” (John 21:1-14) That is, this was the third time that Jesus had appeared to his apostles when all of them or more than half of them were together. On the first such occasion, on the evening of the Sunday of his resurrection, Jesus materialized and ate some broiled fish to prove to his apostles that it was not a spirit that they were seeing.​—Luke 24:22-43; John 20:19-25.

27. Why was it appropriate for Jesus to demonstrate his power by twice causing miraculous catches of fish?

²⁷ It was very fitting that twice Jesus Christ should demonstrate his power by filling the nets of his apostles with miraculous catches of fish. He is “the last Adam,” and the first Adam in the garden of Eden was one who in certain respects bore “a resemblance to him that was to come.” (1 Cor. 15:45; Rom. 5:14) To the first Adam and his wife the command was given by God the Creator to “have in subjection the fish of the sea” and all the other lower animals of the earth. (Gen. 1:26-28) It was foretold in Psalm 8:4-8 that the “last Adam,” Jesus Christ, was likewise to have even the fish in subjection to him, and we do have recorded evidences that he did exercise such power, to further the interests of God’s kingdom. (Heb. 2:5-9) One such instance was when Jesus, faced with the paying of the temple tax, said to Simon Peter: “Go to the sea, cast a fishhook, and take the first fish coming up and, when you open its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”​—Matt. 17:24-27.

28. (a) In view of such miraculous catches of fish, what was it logical for them to reason as to fishing for men? (b) Why after that second catch did Jesus not need to invite them to become fishers of men?

²⁸ Remembering that Jesus had called them to become fishers of men, the apostles must have had their faith strengthened for such a work by the two miraculous catches of fish. Under the command of the Chief Fisher, Jesus Christ, they had not in vain let down their nets for a catch. It was logical for them to reason that when, in fishing for men, they let down their nets at his command, they would not bring up their nets empty; there would be those who would be gathered in for the kingdom of the heavens. However, after the second miraculous catch of fish at the Sea of Galilee Jesus did not need to repeat his invitation to them to follow him and become transformed from catchers of fish into fishers of men. For this reason, the resurrected Jesus now turned to another figure of speech, because the quality of love was now to be taken into consideration. Thus John 21:15-17 tells us:

29. What questions and answers did Jesus and Peter then engage in?

²⁹ “When, now, they had breakfasted, Jesus said to Simon Peter: ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him: ‘Yes, Lord, you know I have affection for you.’ He said to him: ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again he said to him, a second time: ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him: ‘Yes, Lord, you know I have affection for you.’ He said to him: ‘Shepherd my little sheep.’ He said to him the third time: ‘Simon son of John, do you have affection for me?’ Peter became grieved that he said to him the third time: ‘Do you have affection for me?’ So he said to him: ‘Lord, you know all things; you are aware that I have affection for you.’ Jesus said to him: ‘Feed my little sheep.’”

30, 31. (a) Why is it difficult to know what Jesus meant by the pronoun “these” in his first question to Peter? (b) Hence, how do some modern translators render the question?

³⁰ Fishers do not love fish, but shepherds do love sheep, in the land of Jesus’ earthly sojourn in particular. Also, a shepherd held himself responsible for sheep in his care. But just what Jesus had in mind when he asked Peter: “Do you love me more than these?” is not certain. In the Greek Bible text the demonstrative pronoun “these” is in the genitive case, plural number, and in the Greek language this case of the pronoun has the same form for all three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter. For instance, the New Testament translation by K. S. Wuest (1961) reads: “Do you have love for me . . . more than these (fish)?” Thus Jesus would be asking whether Peter loved him more than this professional fishing business in the Sea of Galilee. The same thought is suggested by the Bible translation by G. M. Lamsa (1957), which reads: “Do you love me more than these things?”

³¹ The Bible translation by James Moffatt (1922) provokes a different thought, reading: “Do you love me more than the others do?” (Also, An American Translation; James Murdock’s) On the night of Jesus’ betrayal to his enemies Simon Peter had boasted that he loved Jesus more than the other apostles did, but shortly afterward he failed to show this superior love. (Matt. 26:31-35, 55, 56, 69-75) But at the Sea of Galilee Peter did not boast about the superiority of his love for Jesus. But The New English Bible (New Testament, 1961) reads: “Do you love me more than all else?”

32. For gaining people, whose qualities should Peter show, and for keeping those gained, what quality must Peter show?

³² Whatever the pronoun “these” here means, Jesus proceeded to indicate to Peter how he could show his love on earth for his invisible resurrected Lord and Master, namely, by taking loving care of the Master’s “sheep” on earth. Toward gaining people for God, Peter must display the qualities of a fisher; but toward keeping within the organization those brought inside, Peter must show the tender love of an undershepherd for his Master’s sheep.

Orders for Worldwide Fishing

1. Where afterward did the resurrected Jesus appear again to his apostles, and, according to Matthew, what did he say to them?

EVIDENTLY it was some short time after the above that the resurrected Jesus reappeared to his disciples in Galilee, this time to all eleven faithful ones, and this time not by the seaside but in a mountain. The apostle Matthew was there and writes this about it: “The eleven disciples went into Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them, and when they saw him they did obeisance, but some doubted. And Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: ‘All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”

2. (a) Was the discipling work to be confined to the eleven faithful apostles, and what evidence is offered in answer? (b) In what fishing grounds was the work to be carried on?

² Likely there were many more in the mountain than just the eleven faithful apostles. (Matt. 28:16-20) This may be the occasion to which the later apostle Paul refers, when he says: “After that he appeared to upward of five hundred brothers at one time, the most of whom remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep in death.” (1 Cor. 15:6) Unquestionably the discipling work was not to be confined to the eleven faithful apostles, and the later Bible records show that it was not limited to the apostles. The fishing for men was to be carried on by all the disciples, including the newly made disciples, and Jesus’ parable of the dragnet proves this. The fishing grounds were not to be confined to the small pool of the natural Jews but were to include the whole sea of mankind, “people of all the nations.” This was to continue down to the “conclusion of the system of things,” in which we are now.

3. (a) By his fishing operations on earth, how many “fish” had Jesus directly netted up to Pentecost of 33 C.E.? (b) What kind of catch was there that day, and who took part in the operation?

³ Jesus’ direct fishing operations on earth, with the help of his apostles and evangelizers, had netted only about one hundred and twenty disciples. At least that many were found together in the upper room on the morning of Pentecost of the year 33 C.E. Where were the others of the five hundred that at one time had witnessed his appearance in Galilee’s mountain? (Acts 1:15 to 2:4) Prior to that remarkable day of Pentecost Jesus Christ had not gathered his followers together and established them as Christian congregations separate from the Jewish synagogue. But now, on this sixth day of the lunar month of Sivan of 33 C.E., fishing operations by Jesus’ trained fishers of men began. All one hundred and twenty in the upper room in Jerusalem, anointed with God’s holy spirit through Christ, participated in the operation, as with a common net. As on the two occasions of special fishing efforts at the Sea of Galilee, there was a miraculous catching of symbolic fish. On that one day about three thousand were netted, for all these were baptized in water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They clung to the apostolic fishers and held meetings.​—Acts 2:5-47.

4. When was fishing in international waters begun, and what was first netted?

⁴ About three years four months and ten days later, or in the autumn of the year 36 C.E., the Christian fishing net was let down in international waters under the direction of the heavenly Fisher, the glorified Jesus Christ. That was when fisherman Peter, accompanied by six faithful Christian Jews, was sent to the seaport city of Caesarea to preach the Kingdom message to the Italian centurion Cornelius and the other Gentiles whom he had gathered into his house. God blessed the fishing operations of Peter and, through the glorified Jesus Christ, God poured out holy spirit upon the Gentile believers. Thus the first Gentile “fish” were netted for the kingdom of the heavens.​—Acts 10:1 to 11:12.

IN THE “CONCLUSION OF THE SYSTEM OF THINGS”

5. According to Jesus’ parable of the dragnet, what are we now approaching, and what about fishing operations?

⁵ Since the catching of the non-Jewish Cornelius of Caesarea into the Christian net the activities of Christian fishers of men in all waters have gone on down into this “conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 28:20) The symbolic “fiery furnace” into which Christ’s holy angels will cast the unsuitable symbolic fish is very near. (Matt. 13:47-50) The time gets more critical as the days go by. But the spiritual fishing operations must go on!

6. (a) What quality did it require to let down nets in 1919? (b) How was there a resuscitation of the organization in 1919, and was it purposeless or not?

⁶ As in the case of Jesus’ apostles on two occasions at the Sea of Galilee, it required great faith for the true fishers of men to obey Christ’s command and let down their nets in the year 1919. That was the first postwar year following the first world war. In the spring of that year the three directorsa and five other prominent members of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania were released from the Federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., and the free administration of the International Bible Students Association was restored. The organization of these dedicated, baptized Christians, which was badly crippled world wide during World War I by religious persecution and militarized governing elements, was repaired. It was as if, like the prophet Jonah, they had been disgorged from the belly of a big fish, to prophesy further. Why was there a spiritual resurrection of these dedicated Christians? To continue fishing! Even though the Gentile Times had ended in the early autumn of 1914, the worldwide fishing for men was not yet over. Down the nets must go again!

7. How, in effect, was the command issued to let down the nets, and how were they let down?

⁷ To that end, articles on “Blessed Are the Fearless” were published in the issues of August 1 and 15, 1919, of the Watch Tower magazine; the first general assembly attended by thousands was held at Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A., at the beginning of September, and the new magazine The Golden Age began to be published on October 1, 1919. In effect, there was a command to these dedicated Christian Bible students: “Let down your nets for a catch.” Obediently, and in a fearless way, they let down in waters that had been quite barren during the years of World War I their nets by an intensified ‘preaching of the good news of the kingdom’ to all the “sea” of mankind. (Matt. 24:14) Was there a catch?

8. What report concerning the “catch” did The Watch Tower make in the summer of 1925?

⁸ The statistics for those postwar years and the spreading of activities answer Yes! For example, under date of September 1, 1925, The Watch Tower, on page 263, said regarding attendance at the worldwide celebration of the Lord’s supper: “We are pleased that the number participating in the Memorial is so great, because it manifests much interest in the truth everywhere, and this is as it should be. The grand total reported to date is 90,434, which is 25,329 more than were reported a year ago.”

9. At first the renewed fishing was done to catch whom, and what name did the fishers embrace?

⁹ For more than twelve years from 1919 onward the fishing activities of these Christian fishers of men were directed chiefly to netting symbolic fish for the kingdom of the heavens, to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom. In 1931 the remnant of these Kingdom heirs assumed the Biblical name “Jehovah’s witnesses,” beginning Sunday afternoon, July 26, 1931, when around 10,000 in international assembly in Columbus, Ohio, joyously adopted a resolution in favor of taking this name, it being based on Isaiah 43:10-12. Congregations of these Kingdom heirs around the globe followed this action.

10, 11. (a) When, apparently, had all “fish” suitable for the Kingdom been netted? (b) What were those fishers, still in the “conclusion of the system of things,” to do then?

¹⁰ The Kingdom “fish” collected by the angels by dragnet operations during the nineteen centuries since Pentecost of the year 33 C.E. were finally to number 144,000. (Rev. 7:4-8; 14:1-5) So, now, during this “conclusion of the system of things” since the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 the last of these Kingdom “fish” were to be caught in the dragnet, in fulfillment of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13:47-50. All of this final remnant who were netted by angelic operations were themselves made “fishers of men,” even as the apostles whom Jesus called from professional fishing in the Sea of Galilee had been made such.b (Matt. 4:18, 19; Luke 5:10) Apparently, by the years 1931-1935 all symbolic fish suitable for the kingdom of the heavens had been caught to complete the foreordained number of 144,000 joint heirs of Christ. (Matt. 22:10, 11) Well, then, were those of the anointed remnant to stop their fishing activities? Were they to throw their fishing nets into discard and just wait to be taken to heaven? How could they Scripturally do so? We are still in the “conclusion of the system of things.” We dare not forget that Jesus said to his followers:

¹¹ “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”

12. (a) In Matthew 28:19, 20, did Jesus set a date for ceasing from making disciples of him? (b) During the year 1938, how many were reported fishing, and whom did this number doubtless include?

¹² By those words in Matthew 28:19, 20 Jesus set no date in the conclusion of the system of things for the fisherman class whom he addressed to stop their work of making disciples. So people who are not netted for a share in the kingdom of the heavens can become disciples of Jesus Christ, even though they are not given the heavenly hope but rejoice in hope of everlasting life in an earthly paradise governed by the heavenly kingdom of God. Hence it is a published fact that since the year 1935 the Christian “fishers of men” began concentrating their attention on those whom God will make heirs of the earthly paradise. To these the possibility was held out of being protected during the coming final war of Armageddon and surviving into the righteous new order on earth under God’s celestial kingdom.c During the year 1938 there was an average of 47,143 who were reported fishing in 52 lands around the globe. Doubtless these included many dedicated Christians who entertained the earthly paradise hope.

13. How did the outbreak of World War II affect the fishing, but why did the fishing continue on in the sea of humanity?

¹³ The outbreak of World War II in September of 1939 greatly hindered the work of fishing for disciples of Jesus Christ. At that time it was a case of fishing in troubled waters; but despite war and cruel persecution the “fishers of men” kept on toiling, as it were, through the night. In a number of lands their spiritual fishing work was banned by the wartime governments. But Jehovah’s “fishers of men” do not get their fishing license or rights from the rulers of this world. Psalm 95:3-5 tells them: “Jehovah is a great God . . . to whom the sea, which he himself made, belongs.” Likewise the sea of humanity belongs to him, and he has issued to his dedicated, baptized witnesses fishing rights to fish in all waters regardless of the restrictions that mere men try to set up over certain areas. So the Kingdom fishing work went on steadily, in secret where necessary. In 1941 the Kingdom message that attracted the symbolic fish was being proclaimed in eighty-eight languages, on printed page and by word of mouth.

14. How was a change of presidency of the Watch Tower Society brought about shortly after America entered World War II?

¹⁴ On December 7, 1941, World War II sucked in the United States of America, the land where the headquarters base of the spiritual fishing was located. Thirty-two days later the aged president of the headquarters organization in Brooklyn, New York, died. Thus in the midst of war of world proportions a change in the presidency became necessary, and the responsibility of this office was laid upon the shoulders of a dedicated man half as old, on January 13, 1942.

15. What call issued early in 1942 showed whether there was a loss of courage or confidence on the part of Jehovah’s organization, and what was the reaction to it?

¹⁵ Although men were becoming faint because of the horrors of the greatest war of all times till then, there was no loss of courage or of confidence on the part of Jehovah’s organization of “fishers of men.” From its earthly headquarters there went forth the call to “fishers of men” in all waters: “Let down your nets for a catch.” This came specially in the form of a leading article in the February 1, 1942, issue of The Watchtower, which used as its theme the text of Jeremiah 16:16 (AV), which reads: “Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”d Paragraph 28 (page 42) of this stirring article referred to the call to the “fishers of men” as set out in Matthew 4:18-22 and Luke 5:1-11. Whether the troubled waters of the war-torn sea of humanity were at the time barren of symbolic fish or not, down went the nets into the waters, in full faith, with trust in the Chief Fisher, Jesus Christ.

16. (a) Was there a “catch” in that war year of 1942? (b) What was there to show determination to continue and enlarge the fishing?

¹⁶ Be it a miracle or not, there was a catch. Although the combined report from all fishers active during the gloomy war year of 1942 was not received in full, it could be reported that upward of 100,000 were actively engaged in the spiritual fishing, and, of these, 7,624 were pioneer publishers putting in their full time as “fishers of men.” (1943 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, page 221) The work of traveling representatives who visited the congregations of “fishers of men” in zones of territory was started again. On September 18-20, 1942, the New World Theocratic Assembly was held, fifty-one cities being linked with the main assembly city Cleveland, Ohio, and twenty-six foreign cities being favored with the same program. In the public talk, “Peace​—Can It Last?” the peace that was to follow World War II in 1945 was foretold, also the reviving of the international organization for world peace and security, now the United Nations. In 1942 plans were laid to build a new printing factory in Brooklyn, and also to start the Bible School of Gilead for missionary fishers.

17. What indicated that there had been a catch despite World War II, which ended in 1945?

¹⁷ All those things that were projected were realized. The letting down of the fishing nets resulted in a catch, contrary to what might have been expected. In the year 1939 there were 61,589 “fishers of men” casting out nets world wide; but in 1945, in the September of which World War II ended, there were 127,478 who were regularly fishing each month, and, of these, 6,719 were full-time pioneer fishers. This was learned from the necessarily incomplete reports. The vast majority of this increase in symbolic fish netted during those years were persons who became disciples of Christ with an earthly paradise hope.

18. By the year 1947, what indicated that the most of those being now netted were those with an earthly hope?

¹⁸ Accordingly, the number of those who had the witness of God’s spirit that they had the heavenly Kingdom hope began to decrease yearly. Also, when the number of the “fishers of men” on earth exceeded the number of 144,000 Kingdom heirs, it was self-evident that those symbolic fish now being netted were disciples with hope of living on earth forever under God’s heavenly kingdom. That fact was plain in 1947, twenty years ago, when the number of fishers regularly reporting world wide was 181,071, in 86 lands.

19. (a) Has our letting down our nets since 1945 been in vain? (b) Why will this fishing season shortly be over?

¹⁹ Our obedience in letting down our nets according to the command of the Chief Fisher, Jesus Christ, has not been in vain. In these postwar years since 1945 hundreds of thousands of symbolic fish have been netted. Today about a million of them have become dedicated, baptized disciples of Christ and have become ordained “fishers of men.” Shortly this great fishing season will be over. Its close will be marked by the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Armageddon, where any “unsuitable” fish on hand will be destroyed as in a “fiery furnace.” (Rev. 16:14-16) A close must come to the “conclusion of the system of things,” during which Jehovah’s Chief Fisher, Jesus Christ, with his holy angels, is directing where the fishing nets should be cast. That terrible close is getting nearer, if we judge from evidences Biblical and mundane. That is no reason for us “fishers of men” to go ashore, hang up our idle nets, and quit our assigned fishing work.

20. (a) Though some fishing grounds seem overworked or depleted, what does trustful letting down of nets accomplish? (b) Where might fishers in such areas go for a catch?

²⁰ Some fishing grounds may now seem to be overworked and almost depleted of available “fish.” True, in such places fewer fish may be hauled up, yet the trustful letting down of the nets by Kingdom preaching, teaching and training always results in catching some who become dedicated, baptized disciples of the Chief Fisher Jesus Christ. This appears to be true even in some national fishing grounds where the number of fishers in the organization does not increase or even decreases. If possible, let those who are able to do so move their “boats” to untouched fishing grounds or to where more “fishers of men” could be used to take care of the big catch that is apparently possible.

21. Who is still in charge of fishing operations, and why should we continue to let down our nets for a catch?

²¹ The One who called us to this occupation, Jesus Christ, is in charge. He knows where he is directing us. He can bless our seemingly fruitless efforts with a surprise catch. We can be sure that he will have all his “fish” caught who become his dedicated, baptized disciples, before all the unsuitable creatures of the sea of humanity are cast into the “fiery furnace” at Armageddon, and the faithful, enduring “fishers of men” are rewarded with life-giving privileges in God’s new order under his heavenly kingdom of peace and happiness. Till that time of execution of divine judgment, “let down your nets for a catch.”