By late 1917 and early 1918 The Finished Mystery was being distributed in increasing numbers. Angered, the clergy falsely claimed that certain statements in this book were of a seditious nature. They were out to “get” the Watch Tower Society and, like the Jewish religious leaders when Jesus was on earth, they wanted the State to do the work for them. (Compare Matthew 27:1, 2, 20.)

February 12, 1918, was a marked date for God’s people in Canada. The Watch Tower Society was then banned throughout that land. A public press dispatch stated: “The Secretary of State, under the press censorship regulations, has issued warrants forbidding the possession in Canada of a number of publications, amongst which is the book published by the International Bible Students Association, entitled ‘STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES​—The Finished Mystery,’ generally known as the posthumous publication of Pastor Russell. ‘The Bible Students Monthly,’ also published by this Association at its office in Brooklyn, New York, is also prohibited circulation in Canada. The possession of any prohibited books lays the possessor open to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and five years in prison.”

On March 14, 1918, the United States Department of Justice termed the distribution of The Finished Mystery a violation of the Espionage Act.