“Let God Arise, Let His Enemies Be Scattered”

“Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let those who intensely hate him flee because of him.”​—Ps. 68:1.

1, 2. Whom does God have as enemies, some of these not knowing?

GOD has his enemies! Millions of people today are enemies to the very thought that there is a God, the Most High and All-powerful One, the Divine Being who is without beginning and without end, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Maker of man, the One to whom all intelligent human creatures on earth are responsible, in full dependence upon Him.

² There are other people who pretend to be worshipers of God, but who are really his enemies, most likely his worst enemies for the reason that they misrepresent him and are thus religious hypocrites. It is as one lover of God long ago said: “They publicly declare they know God, but they disown him by their works, because they are detestable and disobedient and not approved for good work of any sort.” (Titus 1:16) Hundreds of millions of others are enemies of God without their knowing it, not that they worship false gods, but because they are friends of this world: “Do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.” (Jas. 4:4, NW; Dy) Beyond all contradiction, God has his enemies, unhappily for them!

3. (a) To what extent will Jehovah now arise against his enemies? (b) What is his purpose as declared in Isaiah 28:21, and of what ought this to make the enemies think?

³ The time has come for God to rise up against his enemies on earth in one final move to dispose of them entirely. Cases are on the pages of history of where God has arisen against certain enemies of the day to relieve himself of their resistance. But now, according to his declared purpose, he will arise to rid the earth of his enemies of today in one big all-embracing movement, allowing none to escape. He has not forgotten his declared purpose, although it was recorded twenty-seven centuries ago: “Jehovah will rise up just as at Mount Perázim, he will be agitated just as in the low plain near Gibeon, that he may do his deed​—his deed is strange—​and that he may work his work​—his work is unusual.” (Isa. 28:21) History shows what occurred at Perazim on that occasion, and it should be enough to make the enemies of Jehovah today think of how his destructive forces will burst forth like overwhelming waters to sweep them and their idols away.

4, 5. (a) Who witnessed what God did at Perazim and Gibeon, and what role did this one have to perform toward God’s enemies in all the land? (b) In Psalm 68:1-3, what did he pray regarding enemies and righteous ones?

⁴ A man who witnessed both what took place at Perazim and what took place later at Gibeon in the eleventh century before our Common Era was King David of Jerusalem. (2 Sam. 5:17-25; 1 Chron. 14:8-17) The clearing out of those Philistine enemies at Perazim and Gibeon did not do away completely with all the enemies of God’s kingdom that Jehovah had established there in the Middle East with King David as his visible representative on the throne of Jerusalem. There were many other enemies that yet remained in the strip of land that Jehovah God had promised to give to David’s forefather, the patriarch Abraham, a strip running from the great river Euphrates to the river of Egypt. (Gen. 15:17-21; 12:1-9; 13:14-18) Other powerful enemies, such as the Syrians, remained in this general land area and needed to be either destroyed or subdued and made vassals. King David was under God’s command to deal with these enemies in such a way as to bring fulfillment to God’s promise to give “all the land” to the descendants of his faithful friend Abraham. David must have had these enemies in mind when he wrote the opening words of Psalm 68 (verses one through three):

⁵ “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let those who intensely hate him flee because of him. As smoke is driven away, may you drive them away; as wax melts because of the fire, let the wicked ones perish from before God. But as for the righteous, let them rejoice, let them be elated before God, and let them exult with rejoicing.”

6, 7. (a) Whom did the psalmist David there quote, and what was that one instructed to make to represent God’s presence? (b) When and why did this one say the words quoted by David?

⁶ As there were yet unsubdued enemies in the Promised Land, the victory march of Jehovah God against his enemies was not yet completely done. Fittingly, then, King David was inspired to write and to quote the words of the man whom Jehovah God used when starting this victory march, namely, the prophet Moses, in the sixteenth century B.C.E. Moses at that time found himself in the wilderness of Sinai in Arabia, along with the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel and also with a “vast mixed company” of non-Israelites. (Ex. 12:38; Num. 11:4) The whole encampment was made up of millions of people. In the spring of the previous year Jehovah God had miraculously delivered all these from Egypt, even destroying the armies of the Egyptians under Pharaoh when they tried to overtake the fleeing Israelites as they crossed through the dried-up bed of the Red Sea. In the third month thereafter the Israelites and the “mixed crowd” reached Mount Sinai, and there Jehovah God made a national covenant or contract with them.

⁷ According to the law of this national covenant a sacred tabernacle was erected for God’s worship. Into the innermost room of this tabernacle was put the golden ark of the covenant to represent God’s presence there. Whenever the Israelites struck tents and moved to the next place, the ark of the covenant would be carried on the shoulders of priests to that next stopping point. Thus God and his people were on the march to take possession of the Promised Land. There were many enemies in the way before ever they would get complete possession of the whole land. In recognition of this, Moses as mediator between God and the nation of Israel called upon God to take the lead, just as Numbers 10:35, 36 tells us in these words: “It would occur that when the Ark would set out, Moses would say: ‘Do arise, O Jehovah, and let your enemies be scattered; and let those who intensely hate you flee from before you.’ And when it would rest, he would say: ‘Do return, O Jehovah, to the myriads of thousands of Israel.’”

8, 9. In Psalm 68:4-6, what did King David call upon his people to do respecting God?

⁸ Jehovah’s victories and all his merciful treatment of his people deserved to be celebrated with song in praise to Him. The psalmist King David, who was a singer and a musician, called upon his people, the twelve tribes of Israel, to do so:

⁹ “Sing you to God, make melody to his name; raise up a song to the One riding through the desert plains as Jah, which is his name; and jubilate before him; a father of fatherless boys and a judge of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God is causing the solitary ones to dwell in a house; he is bringing forth prisoners into full prosperity. However, as for the stubborn, they have to reside in a scorched land.”​—Ps. 68:4-6.

10. How, in Israel’s case, had God shown himself to be (a) a father to fatherless boys and (b) a judge of widows?

¹⁰ No nation or people on earth today could have a better ruler than the ancient nation of Israel had in its God, their invisible King. Their whole nation had been prisoners unwillingly and undeservingly in pagan Egypt; but Jehovah God desolated the land of Egypt with ten miraculous plagues and brought them out into prosperity, which reached its fullness by the time of King David. In Egypt the nation of Israel had been like a fatherless boy, but Jehovah proved himself to be a father to them, calling the whole nation “my first-born.” (Ex. 4:22) When he brought forth Israel his firstborn from oppression under the God-defying Pharaoh, all the firstborn males of Egypt were slain. God’s people down there were like a helpless widow with no one to plead for her in court, and he stepped in like the righteous Judge of the Supreme Court and saw that the afflicted nation got justice, a liberation. He came to be as a husband to his people.​—Isa. 54:5; Jer. 3:14; 31:31, 32.

11. How did God deal with the “solitary one” in contrast with the “stubborn” ones, and with what name did he ride along?

¹¹ Treated as dangerous slaves in Egypt, the Israelites were like solitary persons in an unfriendly wilderness, with no home to which to go. But Jehovah brought them out and settled them as in a house, in the Promised Land. Those who showed themselves his enemies and stubbornly resisted him, he made to reside without the refreshing blessings of divine favor as in a land scorched by the sun. His name is Jah, which is an abbreviation for the name Jehovah. He made known his name Jehovah to his people down in Egypt as they and their faithful forefathers had never before known it. (Ex. 15:1, 2; 17:16) With this name, upon which he had heaped fame, he rode through the desert plain as he led his people through to the land of promise. Raise up a song to Him!

THE MARCH FROM SINAI TO ZION

12, 13. As the psalmist David reminds us, what things can God move to show his power as Creator, and how did he demonstrate this at Sinai?

¹² It is nothing for this Almighty God Jehovah to move heaven and earth to show that he is the God of creation and all its laws. He displayed his power to do so at Mount Sinai in Arabia, where he brought his people in the third month after delivering them from slave-driving Egypt. Before ever he declared the Ten Commandments from atop Mount Sinai, he caused terrifying demonstrations in earth and sky, to impress the people of Israel with the fact that their Lawgiver was no mere puny human creature, but was the God of heaven and earth. If the inanimate things of creation are moved at his invisible presence, why should not his intelligent human creatures who behold his wondrous works of creation also be moved? He can move heaven and earth to carry out his will. The divine quality of power to do this the psalmist King David called to mind and mentioned, to Jehovah’s praise, as he said:

¹³ “O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the desert . . . the earth itself rocked, heaven itself also dripped because of God; this Sinai rocked because of God, the God of Israel. A copious downpour you began causing to fall, O God; your inheritance, even when it was weary​—you yourself reinvigorated it. Your tent community​—they have dwelt in it; with your goodness you proceeded to make it ready for the afflicted one, O God.”​—Ps. 68:7-10.

14. (a) How did God refresh his inheritance when it was weary? (b) How long was his people a “tent community,” and what resistance did they at last meet?

¹⁴ The people of Israel had been taken out from the pagan nations to be God’s own exclusive possession, and he called it his inheritance. (Deut. 32:8, 9) It had been afflicted in Egypt; and when it reached the foot of Mount Sinai in the wilderness, it was doubtless weary, like a thirsty land. But there, by giving them the Ten Commandments and all the other laws of his covenant and by establishing his pure organized worship among them, Jehovah God began causing a downpour of spiritual blessings. This was spiritually reinvigorating to the people of his inheritance and strengthening to them like food. They found that they had to live, not by physical food alone, but by every word proceeding out of God’s mouth. They spent a long time​—forty years—​as a tent community in the wilderness and outside the borders of the Promised Land. But in the closing year Jehovah brought them to the borders of the “land flowing with milk and honey.” Then the local kings began offering resistance. What now was there to do? Listen:

15, 16. As noted in Psalm 68:11, what part did the women of Israel have in connection with God’s victories by means of their men?

¹⁵ “Jehovah himself gives the saying; the women telling the good news are a large army. Even the kings of armies flee, they flee. As for her who abides at home, she shares in the spoil. Although you men kept lying between the camp ash heaps, there will be the wings of a dove covered with silver and its pinions with yellowish-green gold. When the Almighty One scattered abroad the kings in it, it began to snow in Zalmon.”​—Ps. 68:11-14.

¹⁶ In ancient times women did not take part in battle action, but when the victorious troops returned they streamed forth from their homes to celebrate and to declare the good news with dance, song and music. Miriam, the sister of Moses: led the Israelite women in dance and song after their God Jehovah overthrew the Egyptian armies in the Red Sea. (Ex. 15:20, 21) Jephthah’s daughter came out to meet him with dance and music when he returned from his victory over the enemy Ammonites. (Judg. 11:34) When King Saul in company with his general David returned from victory over the Philistines, the women came out of all the cities to greet them with music, song and dance. (1 Sam. 18:6, 7) The women were not to keep silent on such occasions. It was their men who had been used in the victorious fighting under God, and they were entitled to join in the victory celebration and give the glory and credit for the victory to God, whose will their men had done.

17. (a) Why are the women of today obligated to tell the “good news”? (b) What was the “saying” that God gave to ancient Israel, and what was obedience to the “saying” to furnish?

¹⁷ Women of that kind are not enemies of God. Grand as the good news was that the womenfolk had to tell back there in the time of which the psalmist David wrote, the women of this modern day have still grander good news to tell and thereby prove that they are, not enemies, but friends of God. They get the good news from God, and it is their right and obligation to tell it. Back there in the days of the young nation of Israel, ‘Jehovah himself gave the saying.’ What was the saying? As the Israelites approached the Promised Land to wrest it out of the hands of God’s enemies, His “saying” to them would be to go forward courageously and take possession of it, executing with weapons of war God’s enemies who occupied the Promised Land without God-given right to it. The obedience to this command or “saying” on the part of the fighting men of Israel was to have what outcome? The God to whom the prayer was raised, “Do arise, O Jehovah, and let your enemies be scattered,” guaranteed that the outcome would be victory! It would result in “good news” that the women would be moved to celebrate with music and dance and to tell out with song.

18. (a) In what sense could God be said to give the “saying” to the womenfolk? (b) In what way did it begin to “snow” in Zalmon when God scattered enemy kings?

¹⁸ By fighting for his people and giving them victory, Jehovah would be giving the womenfolk something to tell. He would be supplying them the theme of their song of celebration; he would be giving them the good news. In this sense he could be spoken of as giving the saying. At the victory celebration the women would tell how the pagan kings of the enemy armies had fled from before Jehovah God, when he arose against them in battle. The women would tell that, when God the Almighty scattered the enemy kings in the way of Israel, the dead bodies of the enemy armies covered the field like snow, as in Zalmon; or, possibly, that, to grant victory to his people, he had called for a miraculous snow in Zalmon. The victorious fighters for God would return home after stripping the slain enemy, and they would share the spoil with their women who had to be left home to take care of the house.

19. How, though the men lay among camp ash heaps, was there to be a dove covered with precious metals?

¹⁹ It may have been that, although God’s executional armies had to lie down between the ash heaps during the campaign, there was a dove made of precious metals, with feathers covered with silver and its pinions with yellowish-green gold, to take home as a trophy of Jehovah’s victory. But then, too, the nation of Israel was called Jehovah’s “turtledove.” (Ps. 74:19) From this standpoint, although the men of this turtledove nation of God had had to lie between the ash heaps of the encampment, during a campaign of fighting against God’s enemies, they would come forth like a turtledove, strong of wing and clean in appearance, gleaming as if it were covered with silver and yellowish-green gold. Thus God would not give his turtledove nation into the hands of His foes.

20. What is it that the enemies keep doing since 1914, so that Jehovah must arise against them at Armageddon?

²⁰ The force of this poetic account of God’s dealings ought not to be lost on God’s enemies today. These enemies try to stand in the way of God’s accomplishing his purpose with regard to his people, his bringing them successfully into the righteous new order that he has promised. The “time of the end” as foretold in his Word has come upon the nations of this world, beginning in 1914 at the end of the Gentile Times, “the appointed times of the nations.” They refuse to get out of power during this “time of the end” and peacefully give way to God’s exercising sovereignty over the earth of his creation. So it becomes necessary for Almighty God to oust them. He must arise against them in battle. This he will do at the battlefield of Armageddon. In the meantime the enemy nations continue to block the progress of God’s people as they work at advancing the earthly interests of God’s kingdom.

21. As in David’s case, how did the enemies try to keep Jesus Christ from reigning, and with what success?

²¹ The kingdom is not that of ancient David in earthly Jerusalem, but that of the promised Son of David, Jesus Christ, who was born into the family line of David through the Jewish virgin Mary by a miracle of God. The enemies tried to keep David from ruling as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, but they were disgracefully defeated when God arose against them. Likewise the enemies tried to keep the Son of David, Jesus Christ, from ruling as king, but they too bowed in defeat. They killed Jesus Christ outside Jerusalem on the day that the Jewish passover lamb was killed, but on the third day Almighty God raised him from the dead as a glorious immortal spirit Son. The Son of David then ascended to his heavenly Father. There Jehovah God laid him as a royal Stone in the heavenly Zion, to begin ruling there in God’s due time, that is, in 1914. Then God would begin to make all the Gentile nations a footstool under the feet of the Son of David.​—Luke 21:24; Isa. 28:16-21; Ps. 110:1, 2; Acts 2:34-36; Heb. 10:13.

22. To what have the Gentile nations put up a resistance since 1914?

²² Since 1914 the Gentile nations have refused to recognize the end of the “appointed times of the nations” and have resisted being made the footstool of the reigning Son of David. But their stubborn resistance will prove to be in vain at Armageddon.

SERVING NOTICE ON THE NATIONS

23, 24. (a) What was the “saying” that Jehovah gave in 1914? (b) What did Jesus foretell to occur after 1914, and does this come under the mandatory “saying”?

²³ As Psalm 68:11 long ago said, “Jehovah himself gives the saying.” At the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 Jehovah God gave the saying for the ouster of the enemy nations on earth. They are in their “time of the end.” (Dan. 11:40; 12:4) As regards what was to happen during this “time of the end,” the Son of David, Jesus Christ, foretold, not only world war, famines, pestilences, earthquakes and distress of nations, but also the proclaiming of the good news of a new government, the rightful government of the earth, namely, God’s kingdom. After he predicted the persecutions upon his faithful followers, Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”​—Matt. 24:7-14.

²⁴ Thus God is serving notice upon the enemy nations. He has given the “saying” for such enemies to be subdued, made like a footstool under the feet of the Son of David. This mandatory “saying” includes also the serving of notice on them before He arises against them at Armageddon. Has this notice been served?

25. (a) Serving notice has meant what for the Kingdom witnesses and what for God? (b) Likewise the birth of the Kingdom meant what, and what kind of news resulted?

²⁵ Yes, particularly since the year 1919. This has meant a fight on the part of Jehovah’s Kingdom witnesses since that year. But these Kingdom witnesses have prayed: “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered.” In answer, God has cleared the way for them to serve notice upon the enemy nations by preaching the good news that God’s kingdom was established in the hands of the Son of David in 1914. This has meant a series of victories for Jehovah, making it possible that today the Kingdom notice is being served on the nations in 199 lands and in 164 languages. The very birth of God’s kingdom in the heavens meant a victory by Him over Satan the Devil and his demons. (Rev. 12:5-12) The expanding of the work of serving notice about the Kingdom upon more and more nations has meant further victories for Jehovah God. Such divine victories serve as good news that should be told to the peoples.

26. (a) How is it true today that “the women telling the good news” are a large number? (b) Why is the word “army” a good word for this band of women?

²⁶ Those spiritual victories of God till now have been celebrated world wide. God’s “saying” has not been in vain. As a result of his proceeding to carry it out victoriously, “the women telling the good news are a large army.” (Ps. 68:11) The reported facts prove that. In April of this year of 1967 there were all around the globe 1,154,079 serving notice concerning God’s kingdom and announcing His deeds in his victorious march to Armageddon. That is a large company of celebrators. And if we examine into the personnel of this throng of celebrators, we shall find that the large majority of them were women. Hence out of those 1,154,079 celebrators the number of the womenfolk would make up a “large army.” And “army” is a good word for this band of women who are “telling the good news.” Why? Because they are fighters under God, whose name is Jah, or Jehovah. Many of them may have to mind the house as a mother, wife or daughter, but they are sharing in the spoils of God’s victories through his Kingdom witnesses on earth. In going from house to house preaching, these women are as a whole doing more than all the menfolk.

God’s Ascent on High Above All Enemies

1. What measure of interest do men show toward God’s kingdom, and what do they envy about it?

IF MEN, for the most part, will not celebrate the established kingdom of God by means of the heavenly Son of David, Jesus Christ, a “large army” of women will do so. Men are largely interested in the politics of this world. They prefer human politics and nationalism to the kingdom of God, which reigns from the heavenly Mount Zion. (Rev. 14:1-5; Heb. 12:22-28) The political governments of mankind envy the place that the Holy Bible, God’s Word, assigns to the heavenly kingdom of the Son of David. They ignore its existence and its right to rule all the earth. They consider themselves bigger, higher, than the kingdom of God. They resent being rejected by God. Their envious attitude compares with that poetically attributed by the psalmist David to the mountains of the region of Bashan, when these compared themselves with Mount Zion, where Jerusalem was located.

2, 3. How did Bashan figure as to height, and what mountain did Jehovah show he had chosen as the seat of government, and how?

² Says the psalmist David: “The mountainous region of Bashan is a mountain of God; the mountainous region of Bashan is a mountain of peaks. Why do you, O you mountains of peaks, keep watching enviously the mountain that God has desired for himself to dwell in? Even Jehovah himself will reside there forever. The war chariots of God are in tens of thousands, thousands over and over again. Jehovah himself has come from Sinai into the holy place. You have ascended on high; you have carried away captives; you have taken gifts in the form of men, yes, even the stubborn ones, to reside among them, O Jah God.”​—Ps. 68:15-18.

³ The mountainous region of Bashan may be said to reach its crest in Mount Hermon, over nine thousand feet high. It is now thought that the “lofty mountain” on which Jesus Christ was transfigured before his disciples Peter, James and John was Mount Hermon. (Matt. 17:1, 2) Despite the height of the mountainous area of Bashan, Jehovah God chose Mount Zion as the height on which to establish the capital city of King David and to have his holy ark of the covenant located there, near David’s palace. (2 Sam. 6:12-16) That is why he enabled King David to capture the stronghold of Zion and move his seat of government from Hebron to Mount Zion. (2 Sam. 5:4-10) The capture of Zion was a victory for Jehovah God; and when his ark of the covenant was moved up there by King David, it was as if Jehovah was beginning to reign in Zion over the nation of Israel. On Mount Zion King David was said to sit on “Jehovah’s throne” as his visible representative.​—1 Chron. 29:23.

4. (a) In David’s time, how did Jehovah ascend on high? (b) How did Jehovah carry away captives and take “gifts in the form of men”?

⁴ Mount Zion reaches only about twenty-five hundred feet above sea level. When Jehovah, as represented by his ark of the covenant, moved there, he was ascending on high, accompanied triumphantly by tens of thousands of war chariots, as it were, seeing that Mount Zion had been gained for his earthly kingdom by war. David his anointed king was given victory over the enemies in the Promised Land. Many captives were taken, many of these stubbornly resisting God’s chosen people in taking over the land. It was as though Jehovah himself was taking the captives and returning to Mount Zion in triumph. Many of these were available as slaves; and with these captives gifts could be made in the form of men, especially to the Levites to do the menial work at the tabernacle of God’s worship. (Ezra 8:20) In this way Jehovah did take “gifts in the form of men.” Also, he started residing in the Promised Land, even though stubborn enemies had to be subdued.

5. (a) Where did Jehovah lay Jesus Christ as the Royal Stone, and how? (b) In regard to that Royal Stone, how do the rulers of Christendom compare with the Jewish rulers?

⁵ Earthly Mount Zion was where David himself reigned. Because Jehovah’s only-begotten Son Jesus Christ as a man was the Son of David, the heavenly height on which Jehovah has enthroned this glorified Son may be likened to Mount Zion. There in the celestial Mount Zion is where Jehovah God laid Jesus Christ as the Royal Stone after he had resurrected him from the dead, all of this in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 28:16. (1 Pet. 2:5-7) But when it came to accepting Jesus Christ the Son of David as the rightful Heir to David’s kingdom because of his human descent from David, the Jewish rulers of nineteen centuries ago cried out to Governor Pontius Pilate, who served Emperor Tiberius Caesar: “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15) However, by God’s resurrection power this Son of David began ruling on the heavenly Mount Zion. Jehovah chose this symbolic mountain as the seat of government instead of the earthly Mount Zion or any mountain peak of Bashan. But, like the Jewish rulers, the kings of Christendom do not want any heavenly seat of government over them; they prefer their own lofty governmental mountains on earth.

“GIFTS IN THE FORM OF MEN”

6, 7. In his letter to the Ephesians, how does the apostle Paul prove that Psalm 68 is prophetic?

⁶ This is no imaginary way of our looking at things. It is the fulfillment of prophecy. The apostle Paul took Psalm 68 as prophetic. In writing to the Christian congregation in ancient Ephesus, Asia Minor, he quoted from Psalm 68:18 and explained how this prophecy had its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and his congregation of disciples. Thus, in Ephesians 4:7-13, Paul wrote:

⁷ “Now to each one of us undeserved kindness was given according to how the Christ measured out the free gift. Wherefore he says: ‘When he ascended on high he carried away captives; he gave gifts in men.’ Now the expression ‘he ascended,’ what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions, that is, the earth? The very one that descended is also the one that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might give fullness to all things. And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers, with a view to the training of the holy ones, for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God.”

8. (a) What meaning has been given to the fact that Paul applied Psalm 68:18 to Jesus Christ? (b) In David’s day, how did Jehovah do the things described in Psalm 68:18?

⁸ The way that the apostle Paul here explains the fulfillment of Psalm 68:18 does not mean or say that Jesus Christ is Jehovah God. But in the Hebrew Bible is not Psalm 68:18 addressed to Jehovah? Yes. But in the typical fulfillment of these words, in which King David took part, it was not Jehovah himself that literally ascended on Mount Zion and took his royal seat there and pitched his tent of worship there. In a direct way it was David, the anointed ruler and warrior who represented Jehovah, that did so. So, as represented in David, Jehovah God did these things. Although David himself did these things, David looked upon Jehovah God, who was the responsible One, as doing these things. So, then, David addressed Jehovah God as being the Doer of these things. The like procedure is true also in the fulfillment today.

9. (a) In the complete fulfillment of Psalm 68:18, how did Jehovah descend and ascend? (b) How did Jesus Christ “ascend far above all the heavens”?

⁹ In this complete fulfillment it was not Jehovah himself who “descended into the lower regions, that is, the earth.” It was Jehovah’s only-begotten Son who actually descended, even going into the depths of Sheol or Haʹdes, his corpse being laid in a burial place carved in a rock. (Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57-61; Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:25 32) Jesus Christ ascended out of the earthly grave, but not by his own power. (How could a dead man resurrect himselfa or, harder still, make himself alive in a spiritual resurrection?) Repeatedly the inspired Scriptures say that it was God who raised Jesus Christ, the Son of David, from the dead. Neither was it in a literal way Jehovah God who ascended from earth back to heaven, to the heavenly Mount Zion. It was the resurrected Son of David, Jesus Christ, who, on the fortieth day from his resurrection, ascended back to heaven. In the heavenly Mount Zion he was laid as a precious Cornerstone by Jehovah God. Jesus Christ “ascended far above all the heavens” in that Jehovah God gave him a place higher than that of all other heavenly creatures, a position higher above them than what he had had before.​—Phil. 2:5-11.

10. (a) When quoting Psalm 68:18, why did Paul use the pronoun “he” instead of “you”? (b) How was it that “he carried away captives,” and what did he do with them?

¹⁰ It is notable, therefore, that, when the apostle Paul quoted from Psalm 68:18, he did not address it to Jehovah God and use the personal pronoun “You” but said “he.” Paul knew that on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E. the ascended Jesus Christ received from Jehovah God the holy spirit and poured it out upon his waiting disciples down in Jerusalem, about one hundred and twenty of them. “He carried away captives,” not by resurrecting the pre-Christian faithful servants of God and taking them to heaven with him, inasmuch as on the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter himself said that even the pre-Christian King David had not ascended to heaven but still lay buried in the land of Judea. (Acts 2:1-34) The “captives” that Jesus carried away and that he, like David, turned over to God’s service, were those one hundred and twenty in Jerusalem upon whom he poured out holy spirit. About three thousand more “captives” were added to his victory procession that same day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:37-42) Under those circumstances he could, as Jehovah’s representative, give gifts in men.

11. How was it, then, that Jehovah both took and gave “gifts in the form of men”?

¹¹ By Jesus, whom he resurrected, Jehovah God had “taken gifts in the form of men.” (Ps. 68:18) By the resurrected Jesus he could also ‘give gifts in men’ on the day of Pentecost and afterward.

12. (a) What “gifts in men” did Jesus Christ bestow, and upon whom? (b) Of what fact was the bestowal of such “gifts in men” tangible evidence?

¹² The “gifts in men” in the form of the twelve apostles, some of whom were also Christian prophets, were markedly in evidence on that day of Pentecost in 33 C.E. (Acts 2:37, 42, 43) These apostolic and prophetic “gifts in men” were promptly accepted by the other captive disciples. But there were other “gifts in men” that the victorious Christ at God’s right hand in heaven gave to his congregation of disciples on earth, namely, evangelizers, spiritual shepherds and teachers. Dedicated, baptized, spirit-filled men served prominently in these capacities in the activities of the first-century Christian congregation, according to the Bible record. That was why the apostle Paul spoke of “gifts in men” in Ephesians 4:11 and Acts 20:28. (Acts 21:9; 2 Tim. 4:5) When such “gifts in men” were bestowed upon the newly formed Christian congregation in Jerusalem, it was tangible, visible evidence that the resurrected Jesus Christ had victoriously “ascended” to the heavenly Mount Zion, where Jehovah God laid him as a precious “foundation cornerstone.” On him his congregation is built up.

13. (a) What “gifts in men” does the Christian congregation have today, and particularly since when? (b) How did the nations of Christendom reject God’s Royal Stone, but what did God do to him?

¹³ Even today the true Christian congregation has such “gifts in men.” We do not have the apostles and Christian prophets in person, but we do have them with us in their inspired writings in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Furthermore, we of the true Christian congregation have the other “gifts in the form of men” in the capacities of evangelizers, spiritual shepherds and teachers, particularly since the year 1919. By waging the first world war of 1914-1918 the nations of Christendom proved that they rejected God’s kingdom and rejected the Royal Stone to whom he had assigned a place on the heavenly Mount Zion, the rightful seat of government for all the earth. They climaxed this rejection of God’s Royal Stone by voting in 1919 in favor of a League of Nations, mainly nations of Christendom. But the Royal Stone whom the political builders, backed by the religious clergy, thus rejected, Jehovah God confirmed in his exalted position on the heavenly Mount Zion, in a complete fulfillment of Isaiah 28:16. Jehovah God made that fact apparent by freeing his people in 1919 from Babylonish bondage and then giving “gifts in men.”

14. (a) How does Jehovah now reside among the “stubborn ones”? (b) What do the willing “captives” become, and how does Jehovah reside among them?

¹⁴ The “stubborn” resisters of God’s victorious kingdom are really accomplishing nothing against it. At Armageddon, when Jehovah God rises up against them as at Mount Perazim and at Gibeon, he will utterly destroy them by means of his exalted Royal Stone, Jesus Christ. Meantime God still resides as King among even the “stubborn,” and in spite of them. To his Royal Stone, Jesus Christ, on the heavenly Mount Zion Jehovah says: “Go subduing in the midst of your enemies.” (Ps. 110:1, 2) But those who accept “this good news of the kingdom” and willingly become “captives” of the victorious Jehovah God and his Christ become his “men of good will.” (Luke 2:14) He builds them up spiritually as a Christian congregation by means of “gifts in the form of men,” namely, evangelizers, shepherds and teachers. By his holy spirit Jah God resides among such willing captives.

NONE OF HIS ENEMIES TO ESCAPE

15, 16. In the light of what David said in Psalm 68:19, 20, how only can the escape of those chosen for the heavenly kingdom from extinction be explained?

¹⁵ Today, forty-nine years after the close of World War I in 1918, as we look back we can express for ourselves the words of the psalmist David, together with his strong assurances for the future: “Blessed be Jehovah, who daily carries the load for us, the true God of our salvation. . . . The true God is for us a God of saving acts; and to Jehovah the Sovereign Lord belong the ways out from death. Indeed God himself will break the head of his enemies in pieces, the hairy crown of the head of anyone walking about in his guiltiness. Jehovah has said: ‘From Bashan I shall bring back, I shall bring them back from the depths of the sea, in order that you may wash your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion from the enemies.”’​—Ps. 68:19-23.

¹⁶ During this “time of the end,” and under the worldwide persecution that was foretold to come upon Christ’s faithful followers, just how the willing “captives” of the victorious Jesus Christ ever escaped being wiped out of existence is a wonder. It can only be explained by the fact that Jehovah is a “God of saving acts” and to him “belong the ways out from death.” In this connection we must remember that from 1918 onward till Armageddon God cut short the days of the tribulation upon the worldly nations and kingdoms. He did this, as Jesus Christ foretold, for the sake of his chosen ones, in order that some flesh might be saved on earth. (Matt. 24:21, 22) This cutting short of the tribulation has worked out for the salvation of even the anointed remnant of those whom God has chosen for the heavenly kingdom with Christ.

17. What other willing “captives” today have reason to bless Jehovah for acts of salvation?

¹⁷ Not only these, but also the “great crowd” of other willing “captives” on earth have reason to bless Jehovah as a “God of saving acts,” “the true God of our salvation,” the One “who daily carries the load for us.” Exactly this is what the “great crowd” now do, as foretold in Revelation 7:9, 10.

18. In what way will Jehovah bring them back from Bashan and the depths of the sea, and to what kind of treatment?

¹⁸ Jehovah God will perform no “saving acts” for his enemies. He will arise against them at Armageddon, to break their heads in pieces, to break the hairy crown of those who are guilty before him and who keep on adding to their guilt. At the destruction of religious Babylon the Great and in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Armageddon these enemies will try to escape to places high and low, hiding in places seemingly beyond reach of anybody. If, as it were, they should go into the mountainous region of Bashan and onto its high peaks, from there the inescapable Jehovah God will bring them down and back to punishment. If, even in atomic-powered submarines, they should try to hide themselves in the depths of the sea, the unavoidable Jehovah God will bring them back. To what? To face slaughter, that their lifeblood might be poured out. This will enable the true followers of the Son of David, in effect, to wash their foot in the blood of their enemies. No decent burial will be given such detestable enemies, but, if we have any Biblically despised dogs in our service, God will let them lick up the blood of the enemies against whom God has arisen.

TRIUMPHAL PROCESSIONS

19. What victory processions have the “stubborn” enemies seen, and what tribes take part in these processions?

¹⁹ Already in these exciting times before the war of Armageddon the stubborn, unyielding enemies have seen the victory processions of Jehovah’s people. These are celebrating jubilantly the notable victories that Jehovah God has already gained by the Son of David since 1914, when the “time of the end” began. Today no tribes of natural Israel may be identified, such as the tribes of Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun and Naphtali, since Jewish genealogical records were lost during the last half of the first century of our Common Era. But we do have a remnant of the “twelve tribes” of spiritual Israel, who will stand with the Son of David on the heavenly Mount Zion. (Rev. 7:4-8; 14:1-5; Gal. 6:16) This small remnant of spiritual Israelites have joined in these modern-day victory processions in honor of victorious Jehovah God and his Son of David. It is like what David described concerning his own day:

20, 21. (a) To what did such victory processions proceed, and why were they called the processions of God? (b) Why did David call Jehovah “my God, my King”?

²⁰ “They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my King, into the holy place. The singers were in front, the players on stringed instruments after them; in between were the maidens beating tambourines. In congregated throngs bless God, Jehovah, O you who are from the Source of Israel. There is little Benjamin subduing them, the princes of Judah with their shouting crowd, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. Your God has laid command upon your strength. Do show strength, O God, you who have acted for us.”​—Ps. 68:24-28.

²¹ In ancient Israel each victory of Jehovah God became the reason for a victory procession on the part of his chosen people, who would march to his sanctuary or central place of worship. Processions of such kind were called God’s processions, as if he were heading the procession to his sanctuary. By victory for his people he had confirmed his kingship over them, for which reason the psalmist David spoke of Jehovah God as “my King.” Hence, he deserved to be publicly praised with music and song, with men and women participating from all the tribes of Israel.

22. (a) Who was the “Source of Israel” from whom the Israelites came? (b) Why could God lay command on their strength, and why did he have to show his own strength?

²² The singers and the women beating tambourines could sing: “In congregated throngs bless God, Jehovah, O you who are from the Source of Israel.” (Ps. 68:26) The earthly source of all twelve tribes of Israel was, of course, the patriarch Jacob, surnamed Israel; but their real Source as a chosen nation was Jehovah God, and him they should bless when in congregated throngs as on the occasion of a victory procession. From him had come the nation’s strength, and so he rightly laid command on its strength for his service. But for the nation to succeed and triumph, He must show his strength and must act for them against the enemies.

23. (a) Since 1919, how have the Gentile nations seen the processions of “my God, my King”? (b) Who have taken a large part in such?

²³ In modern times, since 1919 of our Common Era, Jehovah’s Christian witnesses have had such victory processions in honor of the victories of their God Jehovah. Unitedly, “in congregated throngs,” they have gone forth bearing witness to his name and kingdom both publicly and from house to house, as the apostles of Jesus Christ used to do. (Acts 5:42; 20:20) They have done this under the invisible leadership of Jehovah God, whose name they bear. In this way the people of all Gentile nations have seen the processions of the God and King of Jehovah’s witnesses. In such processions of witness work the large section of dedicated women witnesses has gained a prominence that cannot be overlooked or left unmentioned.

24. In that connection, where have “congregated throngs” actually been seen?

²⁴ In connection with these modern victory processions, O what vast “congregated throngs” have been seen at the circuit and district and national and international assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses! Note, for example, the public meeting in New York city on Sunday, August 3, 1958, when the talk entitled “God’s Kingdom Rules​—Is the World’s End Near?” was delivered by the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society to 253,922 hearers!

25. (a) When will the greatest victory celebration be held, and why? (b) For what will the strength of those in the procession be commanded?

²⁵ Ah, but what a victory procession there should be world wide after Jehovah arises against his enemies at the battlefield of Armageddon and gains his greatest victory of all time! O how the favored survivors of the war of Armageddon will celebrate his eternal victory with song and music, blessing him who is the Source of life of his people! In response to their fervent prayers he will there have shown his strength for the vindication of his universal sovereignty and his holy name. He will also have acted for their deliverance. In appreciation of their indebtedness to him they will continue to respond to the commands that he lays upon their physical and spiritual strength. During the thousand years of Christ’s reign that follows they will joyfully use their strength in telling about Jehovah’s acts and glorious victory to the thousands of millions who are resurrected from the dead.

REBUKES FOR ALL BRINGING NO GIFTS BEFORE ARMAGEDDON

26, 27. Why, as set out in Psalm 68:29-35, is it advisable to make a right decision now?

²⁶ The years remaining now before God arises against his enemies at Armageddon are critical years, making very advisable a right decision on the part of everyone. Rebukes will be administered at Armageddon, and for one to be rebuked there will mean one’s destruction. Very fittingly the psalmist David recommended a right decision as the wise thing for our momentous time, saying:

²⁷ “Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings will bring gifts to you yourself. Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, the assembly of bulls, with the calves of the peoples, each one stamping down on pieces of silver. He has scattered the peoples that take delight in fights. Bronzeware things will come out of Egypt; Cush itself will quickly stretch out its hands with gifts to God. O you kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, make melody to Jehovah— . . . to the One riding on the ancient heaven of heavens. Lo! He sounds with his voice, a strong voice. Ascribe strength to God. Over Israel his eminence is and his strength is in the clouds. God is fear-inspiring out of your grand sanctuary. The God of Israel he is, giving strength, even might to the people. Blessed be God.”​—Ps. 68:29-35.

28. In what sense have “Egypt” and “Cush” furnished gifts to Jehovah God?

²⁸ Who, then, is “King of the nations,” yes, “the King to time indefinite”? It is Jehovah God, the Universal Sovereign, who is superior to all the kings of the nations. (Jer. 10:7, 10) Even his Son Jesus Christ is superior to them all. (Rev. 17:14; 19:16) The kings of Christendom as well as of pagandom refuse to recognize Jehovah’s supreme kingship. But they have been obliged to make contributions to Jehovah’s worship as carried on in his spiritual temple, of which Jesus Christ is the Foundation Cornerstone and his faithful disciples are “living stones.” (1 Pet. 2:5-9) Since Jehovah’s worshipers, his Christian witnesses, have determinedly obeyed God as Ruler rather than men, the earthly rulers have been obliged to make legislation and render court decisions that have shown favorable regard for the faithful worshipers of Jehovah at his temple. In this fashion, as it were, bronzeware gifts have come out of the old enemy nation of Egypt; and Cush or Ethiopia, another enemy, has been quick to hand over gifts to Jehovah God.

29. (a) How should people of the “kingdoms of the earth” sing to the Rider of the heavens? (b) How will the “beast of the reeds” and the “assembly of bulls” be rebuked, and why?

²⁹ Now is the time for peoples of all the “kingdoms of the earth” to listen to the Kingdom message proclaimed by Jehovah’s Christian witnesses and join in singing praises to Jehovah, the One who rides triumphant, as on a war chariot, upon the highest heavens from ancient times onward. The mighty rulers of the earth, like the “wild beast of the reeds,” the hippopotamus, or like the “assembly of bulls,” with their subjects following them like “calves of the peoples,” will be rebuked by Jehovah God at Armageddon, because they offer him no “pieces of silver” as tribute but keep “stamping down” that which belongs to him. They “delight in fights” with him and his faithful worshipers. In answer to our prayer to arise against such opposers, Jehovah God will scatter them and destroy them and deliver his persecuted people. Like loud thunder, his “strong voice” will sound out in rebukes that will forever put all opposing enemies to silence.

30. (a) Why should we ascribe strength to God? (b) How is his “eminence” over his people?

³⁰ Do we really believe that Jehovah God has the strength to do this? It is vital for us to ascribe such strength to him. To this very day he has given strength and might to his remnant of spiritual Israel and to their dedicated earthly companions to do what he has commanded them to do as his witnesses during these perilous days before Armageddon. To him we must give, to him we must ascribe the strength for what we ourselves have been able to accomplish because of the marvelous victories that he has given us. Among us he is accorded the highest place of “eminence,” no other gods or earthly rulers being recognized as superior to him or even as high as he is. His “eminence” as Universal Sovereign is plainly over us, because we obey him as Ruler and preach his kingdom by the Son of David world wide.

31. How is his strength “in the clouds”?

³¹ Truly “his strength is in the clouds,” in the skies, higher than outer space, for he is the Almighty One. At Armageddon he will display his omnipotence above men and devils, to vindicate his universal sovereignty. Ought we not to bless him as God? Yes, both now and forevermore!”b

[Footnotes]

How Clean Must a Government Be?

CAN a government that has only a few flaws, if not in its constitution, in some of its members, stand? We know that no great power of past history has continued to stand. They have had flaws that caused them to crack and fall in ruins. Britain, which now, along with the United States, is the Seventh World Power, has not yet stood as long as the Sixth World Power Rome, and it is already having grave difficulties. We can find flaws in all of history’s past man-made governments.

Consider how flawless a government would have to be to remain. It governs millions of subjects, each with his own problems and pressures. The government has to do with all aspects of their lives, from home and family to employment, business and other matters of economy, city planning, traffic, rights of individuals as well as organizations, their limitations, and so forth. Now, one slightest wrong directive, one wrong decision or wrong example has the effect of interfering with the intricate interwoven society under it. One injustice or the smallest breakdown in enforcing a law can easily start a chain reaction that will multiply the matter millions of times. We have experienced the far-reaching and devastating results of a little bit of corruption or of wrong examples in government in our times. When disrespect for government is caused by the rulers, it grows until that government can no longer stand.

NO HOPE FROM HUMAN SOURCES

For this reason the government that rules the earth and that is able to remain must be from a perfect source, with perfect rulers in whom no flaw can arise. This definitely rules out all man-made governments. It leaves only one source, a superhuman power that is righteous.

The Creator of the earth has certainly made all things that man needs and has