Fighters Against God Losing the Battle

“They will be certain to fight against you, but they will not prevail against you, for ‘I am with you,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘to deliver you.’”​—Jer. 1:19.

1. In what sense are those now losing the battle the fighters against God?

FIGHTERS against God! Not in the sense of fighting against the laws of God’s creation, such as the law of gravitation. But fighters against God in the sense of fighting against the visible organization of his chosen people and the work that he commands them to do. In modern times, men who highly respect the scientifically discovered laws of creation may thus find themselves fighting against the God of The Holy Bible. To their own chagrin, they are losing the battle.​—Acts 5:39.

2. How is the proof furnished that God has accepted the small organization under question and that he has not cast it off?

² To such fighters against God it doubtless seems presumptuous for a small organization on earth to consider itself the organization over which God has put his special protection in order to deliver it from fighters against him. But to what mental conclusions should actual experiences of that organization lead it? The evidence of 100 years ought to lead it to the right conclusion as to the identity of the organization that God has chosen and strengthened to withstand worldwide attacks till now. This small organization of dedicated persons stepped onto the stage of modern affairs in God’s name. All the evidence to date indicates that God chose to recognize and accept the organization and that he has not cast it off. The test of time, of as much as 10 decades, has furnished valid proof to this fact.

3. In whose name did the announced Messiah come, but with what reaction from the people?

³ The experience of this organization compares with what took place 19 centuries ago, in Bible times. In the Middle East a man was then being announced as the long-awaited Messiah, the one anointed by God to be the King of a government that would at last give all mankind a righteous rule. The majority of the people followed their religious leaders and refused to believe him to be the promised Messiah from God. But he was no impostor. He was no self-made Messiah ambitious for glory and power. To his opposers he said: “I do not accept glory from men. . . . I have come in the name of my Father, but you do not receive me; if someone else arrived in his own name, you would receive that one.” (John 5:41-43) The speaker of those words was Jesus, a descendant of King David of Jerusalem and, hence, also a descendant of faithful Abraham, by means of whose seed all the families of the earth are to be blessed.​—Gen. 12:3; 22:18; Matt. 1:1-16.

4. Jesus coming in the name of his heavenly Father meant what respecting himself?

⁴ Jesus’ coming in the name of his heavenly Father meant that he came, not on his own initiative, but as the one sent by his heavenly Father. So he was a son who obediently had to do on earth the will of his Father. He had to make his Father’s name known and to bring honor to it, not misrepresenting it.

5. Although being a prophet himself, in whose prophecies also was Jesus the Messiah interested?

⁵ To this very day Jesus the Messiah has proved himself to be the greatest prophet that the God of the Bible has ever had on earth, not even excepting the lawgiver Moses of pre-Christian times. (Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:22, 23; Rev. 22:18-20) But he was also interested in prophecies made by a prophet earlier than himself named Jeremiah.

6. In whose name did Jeremiah come and speak, and how is this fact verified by statements from persons of that time?

⁶ Jeremiah was a member of a priestly family living in Anathoth, under the kingdom of Judah. Like Jesus Christ, Jeremiah did not come or speak in his own name, even though the obligations of a Levite priest fell upon him. As in Jesus’ case, Jeremiah’s prophesying roused opposition. His opposers, who desired to kill him, said to him: “You must not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, that you may not die at our hand.” (Jer. 11:21) Once, when feeling discouraged, Jeremiah said: “I am not going to make mention of him, and I shall speak no more in his name.” (Jer. 20:9) But he found himself so fired up with God’s word that he could not stop proclaiming it. His prophecies came true with the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., and yet the Jewish survivors who were bent on their own ways said to him: “As regards the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we are not listening to you.” (Jer. 44:16) In time those fighters against God had to take the consequences.

7. What reassuring words did Jehovah need to say to Jeremiah at the start?

⁷ Little wonder that, 40 years earlier, in 647 B.C.E., Jehovah needed to say to the then young man Jeremiah: “You must . . . speak to them everything that I myself command you. Do not be struck with any terror because of them, in order that I may not strike you with terror before them. But as for me, here I have made you today a fortified city and an iron pillar and copper walls against all the land, toward the kings of Judah, toward her princes, toward her priests and toward the people of the land. And they will be certain to fight against you, but they will not prevail against you, for ‘I am with you,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘to deliver you.’”​—Jer. 1:17-19.

8. What recollection strengthened Jeremiah to endure for so long, but what question do we now ask?

⁸ Think of the resistance that Jeremiah had to put up, the endurance that he had to display​—for more than 40 years! He was one of Jehovah’s spokesmen to whom the Christian disciple James directed our attention, saying: “Take as a pattern of the suffering of evil and the exercising of patience the prophets, who spoke in the name of Jehovah.” (Jas. 5:10) Jeremiah’s constantly reminding himself that he had not come in his own name, but that he spoke in Jehovah’s name, strengthened him to endure and defeat the purpose of his attackers, who were really fighting against God. Jehovah did not strike Jeremiah with terror before those assailants, for Jeremiah did not let himself be struck with terror at their menacing appearance and numbers. That was excellent for 26 centuries ago, but do we have anything to duplicate this today​—an up-to-date illustration? Yes, we do!

A MODERN JEREMIAH CLASS

9, 10. As prefigured by Jeremiah, whom do we have in mind, and why is such a one now due to be here?

⁹ We do not mean that Jeremiah himself has come back to life by a resurrection from the dead. That was what some first-century Israelites thought of Jesus Christ because of his coming in Jehovah’s name and enduring so much religious opposition there in Israel. (Matt. 16:13, 14) Today we mean someone who was prefigured or typified by ancient Jeremiah. We have in mind the servant or slave about whom Jesus Christ spoke in his prophecy concerning “the sign of [his] presence [or, parousia] and of the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 24:3) Today, alert Bible students see the “sign” of the presence, or parousia, of the glorified Jesus Christ in heavenly Kingdom power. Hence, the servant or slave should now be here on earth to complete the “sign” in all its details. In Matthew 24:45-47, Jesus said:

¹⁰ “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings.”​—NW; compare the Authorized Version.

11, 12. (a) When did the “slave” appear on the scene, and how? (b) What showed that the “slave” was appointed to feed the “domestics” at the proper time?

¹¹ The “slave” here foretold could not be an individual Christian man, for, in such a case, he would have to be more than 1,900 years old by now. The “slave” must be the entire Christian congregation made up of the 144,000 disciples who have been begotten by God’s spirit to become joint heirs with Jesus Christ in his heavenly kingdom. This “slave” class had its start on the festival day of Pentecost in the year 33 C.E. The original part of the “slave” class came into existence when the glorified Jesus Christ was used to pour out the holy spirit upon the waiting disciples (about 120 of them) assembled at Jerusalem. That this newly created “slave” class was then appointed to give spiritual food at the proper time to the domestics of the glorified Jesus Christ the Master is shown by an outstanding fact. What is that?

¹² All those who were then anointed with the holy spirit began to speak with hitherto unknown foreign languages and to talk about “the magnificent things of God.” (Acts 2:1-11) Right after that 3,000 truth-hungry Jews and proselytes were fed with spiritual food at that proper time and became baptized, spirit-begotten Christians, domestics of the Master Jesus Christ.​—Acts 2:14-42; Matt. 24:45.

13. (a) How has this “slave” been kept alive till now, and in expectation of what? (b) Why should the 63-year period since 1914 have a special significance?

¹³ Those first-century spirit-begotten Christians died off, but in the centuries since then members have been added to the “slave” congregation, all these awaiting the “presence” of the glorified Master Jesus Christ in Kingdom power. Since the year 1914 the “sign” has appeared and become constantly more impressive, to verify that the Master’s presence in Kingdom power began at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914. (Luke 21:24; Dan. 4:16, 23, 25, 32) Since then, no period of just 63 years has seen all mankind plagued with such international wars, political upheavals, accompanied by so many earthquakes, pestilences of pandemic proportions, food shortages with spiraling food costs, outbursts of lawlessness, and loveless oppression and persecution of Christ’s “slave” class world wide. Truly, this period between World War I of 1914 and now remains without historic parallel. It should have significance of world importance. It does! Jesus Christ, God’s prophet greater than Moses, prophetically explained what it would mean. What?

14. According to Jesus’ explanation, what did this period mean?

¹⁴ That his “presence,” or parousia, is now in effect since 1914 and that the end of this system of things draws ever closer!

15. Why should there be a Jeremiah class on earth today, and who compose it?

¹⁵ The period of Christ’s “presence” is the time for his judging of members of the “slave” congregation appointed 19 centuries ago to feed his domestics with spiritual food at the proper time. (Matt. 24:45-47; 25:14-30) So the final remnant of the spirit-begotten “slave” class are now due to be here on earth and to be undergoing judgment. Their faithfulness and spiritual wisdom in the Master’s service determines their worthiness to be put in charge of all the earthly belongings of their Master. Also, since our times correspond with the days of Jehovah’s prophet Jeremiah, it is logical that there should be a class like Jeremiah today, coming in Jehovah’s name. There is such! It is composed of the approved remnant of the “slave” class. And till now the fighters against God have not prevailed against it!

16. (a) A hundred years ago what had begun to exist in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, with what relation to Christendom? (b) How did a vitally needed magazine then come to be published, and by whom?

¹⁶ Let us look back 100 years​—back to 1877 C.E. By that time the religious sects and denominations of the realm of Christendom had multiplied greatly. However, at that time there was a small congregation of dedicated Bible students in Allegheny (now a part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, U.S.A. This congregation was completely divorced from the religious systems of Christendom, which was then under attack by the evolution theory, the so-called Higher Criticism and materialism. Within that small congregation in Allegheny unsectarian study of God’s inspired Word aroused a driving sense of urgency. An elder of that congregation saw the need of publishing a new magazine that would champion the basic, underlying doctrines of the Holy Bible. His material wealth he decided to use in this behalf. So in July of 1879 he founded the desired magazine with himself as editor and publisher. This magazine was due to pose a problem for the world system of things, particularly for Christendom. It was entitled “Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.” Its editor and publisher was the self-sacrificing Bible student Charles Taze Russell.

17, 18. (a) Besides what is indicated by the title “Zion’s Watch Tower,” in whose name did those having to do with the magazine step out onto the world stage? (b) Why would the magazine never beg or petition men for support?

¹⁷ This editor and fellow contributors to the new magazine and the congregation that backed it up stepped upon the world stage in the name of the God of Jeremiah, who served as priest at ancient Zion. The Bible speaks repeatedly of the Zion of Jeremiah’s time as being the residence of Jeremiah’s God. (Ps. 74:2; 48:1, 2) The magazine’s designation “Watch Tower” had to do with the Bible text quoted on the title page: “Watchman, what of the night?” “The morning cometh.” (Isa. 21:11, 12, Authorized Version) This suggested the purpose that the magazine was going to serve with regard to the fulfillment of Bible prophecies. But on page 2 of the second issue of the magazine (Volume 1, Number 2), at the top of the first column there appeared the heading: “Do You Want ‘Zion’s Watch Tower’?” Under this heading, paragraph three said:

¹⁸ “Do not suppose these remarks to be an appeal for money. No. ‘Zion’s Watch Tower’ has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: ‘All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,’ fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication.”

GOING FORWARD IN THE DIVINE NAME

19. What shows whether Jehovah failed to provide funds for publishing the magazine?

¹⁹ There is no room for debating the point. The publisher of Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence stepped into the world arena of religious activity in the name of JEHOVAH, just as the prophet Jeremiah of old did. So, then, did Jehovah fail to provide the necessary funds for the continued publication of this magazine? The answer to this question is obvious from the fact that never, since July of 1879 till now, did this magazine, in spite of being banned at various times in various lands, suspend publication or miss even a single issue!

20. What does the magazine’s printing now amount to, and to what does its title call attention?

²⁰ Today the Watchtower magazine has increased its printing from an initial 6,000 copies monthly in one language (English) to a semimonthly printing of 10,400,000 copies in 79 languages. Today, ever since the issue of March 1, 1939, this magazine has been entitled “The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.” Also, today it has a companion magazine entitled “Awake!” printed by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., in 33 languages and with an average printing of 10,125,000 copies.

21, 22. (a) What was made an objective of the magazine, and what name did those accepting it as their official magazine embrace? (b) Thus what obligation, like that of Jeremiah, came upon them?

²¹ From its issue of January 1, 1926, the Watch Tower magazine made it its special endeavor to set the name of the Bible’s God, Jehovah, most prominently before the whole world. It was only logical that, five years later (in 1931), those dedicated, baptized Christians who accepted the magazine as their official publication should embrace the name based on Isaiah 43:10, namely, Jehovah’s Witnesses. Not strangely, such a coming and speaking in the name of Jeremiah’s God from 1879 onward placed an obligation upon the publishers and supporters of the Watch Tower magazine and related publications. What? To herald to all mankind what Jehovah had declared in the Holy Bible. This resembled the responsibility that was laid upon Jeremiah, to whom God said:

²² “And as for you, you should gird up your hips, and you must rise up and speak to them everything that I myself command you.”​—Jer. 1:17.

23. So what has the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses continuously striven to do, and how?

²³ The Christian organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses has recognized its obligation in that respect and has continuously striven to fulfill it. Not only do they publish the complete Bible in a number of translations, but they also publish and circulate bound books, booklets and tracts that explain Jehovah’s written Word in its entirety, that is to say, “everything that I myself command you.” Down till now they have not held back from doing this.

24. How did Jesus outline the main work for his disciples?

²⁴ Jesus Christ, as a prophet greater than Jeremiah, outlined the main work for his disciples when he said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” Also: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father [Jehovah] and of the Son [Jesus Christ] 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.”​—Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20.

25. How have Jehovah’s Witnesses carried forward this ordained work, but what about those fighting against this work?

²⁵ Such work as commanded by God’s Son Jesus Christ has been pushed by Jehovah’s Christian witnesses clear around the globe into 216 lands and island groups in 194 languages. Men who oppose them in this divinely ordained work make themselves in actuality fighters against God. In doing so, they are fighting a losing battle. Desperately they persist in thinking that they will prevail against the small anointed Jeremiah class and their loyal companions. But we have Jehovah’s Word for it that they will never prevail!

“They Will Be Certain to Fight Against You”

1. What reaction might we feel at the unfaithfulness of a marriage mate?

HOW would any of us feel as married persons if our legally wedded mate turned unfaithful to us and flagrantly committed adultery? Say a wife, wedded to us from her youth, broke her vows, left us and went selling herself to men of loose moral conduct. If a faithful husband, would we not feel hurt at heart? After hopes of reconciliation had been blasted, we might send her away with a bill of divorcement. In our predicament, we might never want her back!

2. What case of infidelity on a national scale is set out in Jeremiah 3:1, 2?

² Twenty-six centuries ago, in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, a case like that had developed, but on a national scale. It has a modern-day parallel, and so it concerns us today. It deserves our examination, to see how we may be involved. In the record of the case as set out by Jeremiah, we read this: “There is a saying: ‘If a man should send away his wife and she should actually go away from him and become another man’s, should he return to her anymore? . . . And you yourself have committed prostitution with many companions; and should there be a returning to me?’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Raise your eyes to the beaten paths and see. Where is it that you have not been raped? Alongside the ways you have sat for them, like an Arabian in the wilderness; and you keep polluting the land with your acts of prostitution and with your badness.’”​—Jer. 3:1, 2.

3. What does Jehovah tell the renegade here addressed to do, and why?

³ The nation of Israel is the one here addressed. Accordingly we read: “‘Do return, O renegade Israel,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘I shall not have my face drop angrily upon you people, for I am loyal,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.” “‘I shall not stay resentful to time indefinite. Only take note of your error, for it is against Jehovah your God that you have transgressed.’” “‘Return, O you renegade sons,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘For I myself have become the husbandly owner of you people; and I will take you . . . and I will bring you to Zion.’”​—Jer. 3:12-14.

4. Who today is like renegade Israel, and what question arises about husbandly ownership?

⁴ The one today who is like renegade Israel is Christendom. There are more than 900,000,000 persons who are yet tied in with Christendom, for they are enrolled church members in her many sects and denominations. Has Jehovah God ever been the “husbandly owner” of Christendom? Today she plays down the name of Jehovah and puts the name of Jehovah’s Son Jesus almost exclusively to the fore. More than 18 centuries before Christendom began to exist, Jehovah did become a “husbandly owner.” To whom? To the nation of Israel. He gained ownership of them especially by liberating them from slavery in ancient Egypt and then by bringing them into a legal contract with himself at Mount Sinai, the prophet Moses being used as the mediator between God and man. (Ex. 19:1 through 24:8) But what now about Christendom?

5. (a) In what did Christendom have its roots? (b) In 33 C.E., with whom did Jehovah enter into a husbandly relationship, and how?

⁵ Here is something that the anointed Jeremiah class of today must point out to Christendom, and this modern Jeremiah is doing so. Christendom had its roots in the Christianity of the first century C.E. The true Christian congregation came into being on the festival day of Pentecost in the year 33 of that century. It became “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession,” to Jehovah God. (1 Pet. 2:9) This meant that his marriage relationship with natural circumcised Israel was annulled, abolished. She became divorced! Jehovah now entered into the position of “husbandly owner” toward the newly born “holy nation,” spiritual Israel. This “holy nation” he had bought with the precious blood of his Son Jesus Christ, the Greater Moses. He brought this “nation” into the “new covenant” that Jeremiah had foretold. (Jer. 31:31-34) Jesus was the Mediator of that new covenant. In autumn of the year 36 C.E. believing non-Jews were admitted to baptism and became part of spiritual Israel.

6. To what did religious apostasy among professed Christians lead in the forth century C.E.?

⁶ Then what? After the death of Christ’s chosen apostles by the end of the first century, religious rebellion began to take root in the congregation of spiritual Israel against its “husbandly owner,” Jehovah God. (Matt. 13:24-28, 36-39) This apostasy among professed Christians grew, until early in the fourth century Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire was influenced to take advantage of the situation. Although he was not baptized and was still Pontifex Maximus of the Roman pagan religion, he declared the nominal Christianity of his day to be the State religion for the Roman Empire. From this a marriage of apostate Christianity with the political State resulted.

7. According to Jeremiah 2:20, 21, what degeneration must Jehovah’s Christian witnesses call to Christendom’s attention?

⁷ To present-day Christendom Jehovah’s Christian witnesses have the duty to speak just as Jeremiah spoke to the apostate nation of Israel of the seventh century before our Common Era. With what words from Jehovah God? These: “Upon every high hill and under every luxuriant tree you were lying sprawled out, prostituting yourself. And as for me, I had planted you as a choice red vine, all of it a true seed. So how have you been changed toward me into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?”​—Jer. 2:20, 21.

8. How does Jeremiah 2:2, 3 show a fall on Israel’s part from an honorable spiritual state?

⁸ Jehovah further described the spiritual state from which his covenant people Israel and, modernly, nominal Christianity had fallen when He also said by Jeremiah: “I well remember, on your part, the loving-kindness of your youth, the love during your being engaged to marry, your walking after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown with seed. Israel was something holy to Jehovah, the first yield [the firstfruits] to Him.” (Jer. 2:2, 3) The sacredness of that covenant relationship with Jehovah as God was lost sight of by natural Israel, except for a faithful remnant that included Jeremiah. A similar failure to appreciate the fitness of exclusive devotion to Jehovah God was shown by Christendom. She has not lived by the new covenant.

9, 10. Why does Christendom ask questions about the fitness of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses to act like Jeremiah?

⁹ Who, though, are Jehovah’s Christian witnesses of today that they should take it upon themselves to act like Jeremiah and charge Christendom with falling short of God’s requirements for spiritual Israelites in the new covenant? Who are they that they should be accusing Christendom of being guilty of spiritual adultery toward the God of the new covenant? (Jas. 4:4) That is how Christendom views the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Measured from the time of Constantine the Great, Christendom is more than 1,600 years old and has millions of congregations!

¹⁰ In contrast, Jehovah’s Christian witnesses of today are but a century old, measured from the founding of the Allegheny (Pennsylvania) congregation of unsectarian Bible students. Christendom views them as just a young upstart congregation without the Biblical scholarship of which she can boast. What, though, of Jeremiah’s age when Jehovah commissioned him to be a prophet?

11. According to Jeremiah 1:4-6, did Jeremiah’s youth matter with Jehovah?

¹¹ Jeremiah’s youth did not matter with Jehovah. Godly devotion and willingness to serve under unpleasant circumstances were the qualities that counted with Jehovah. This is evident from the Bible record: “And the word of Jehovah began to occur to me, saying: ‘Before I was forming you in the belly I knew you, and before you proceeded to come forth from the womb I sanctified you. Prophet to the nations I made you.’ But I said: ‘Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah! Here I actually do not know how to speak, for I am but a boy.’”​—Jer. 1:4-6.

“BUT A BOY”

12. Why was Jeremiah not too young in 647 B.C.E. for Jehovah to select him to be “prophet to the nations”?

¹² However, was this son of Hilkiah the priest too young in 647 B.C.E. for Jehovah to select him as “prophet to the nations”? No, for even before Jeremiah was conceived in his mother’s womb, hence long before his birth, Jehovah saw that a son from Hilkiah would be suitable for this responsible office​—just at the right time, too. Also, if Jehovah could sanctify such a son before Hilkiah begot him, certainly this Almighty God could introduce that son into the sacred office, say about 20 years after his birth, or, better still, 25 years after his birth, when he would be qualified to enter the first phases of priestly service at the temple in Jerusalem. So Jeremiah’s birth was well timed, for Jehovah wanted the desired prophet-priest to be a young man at the beginning of his career.

13. During whose reign did Jehovah’s word come to Jeremiah, and why did he feel too young to speak as prophet?

¹³ Jehovah purposed for Jeremiah to serve as prophet for a long time, for more than 40 years, or till old age. So it was not accidental that Jehovah’s prophetic word began to come to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah of Jerusalem. (Jer. 1:1, 2) But Jeremiah himself felt too young to undertake prophetic work that required speaking, publicly. Also, since this would involve speaking to the elders of the nation, men of advanced age, Jeremiah felt himself to be “but a boy.”

14. How did Jehovah’s attitude toward Jeremiah’s youth contrast with that of the prominent people of the land?

¹⁴ The kings, princes, priests and people of the land looked down upon Jeremiah’s youth, this reminding us of how the Christian apostle Paul told his missionary companion Timothy not to let anyone look down upon his youth when he was carrying out Paul’s orders to him. (1 Tim. 4:12) Jehovah did not do so. He did not speak to Jeremiah in a boyish way, and he did not inspire Jeremiah’s first prophecy to be couched in boy’s talk. It was addressed to adults and in their dignified language.

15. How has Christendom all along looked upon the Jeremiah class, and how has the courage of this class been like that of David?

¹⁵ All along, Christendom’s much older religious systems have looked upon Jehovah’s Christian witnesses as “but a boy,” in comparison with themselves. It is true that C. T. Russell was just 27 years old when he founded and started editing Zion’s Watch Tower, but he kept on editing it for 37 years, till he died when 64 years old. He served as president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society for almost 32 years (1884-1916). As that Society was incorporated in December of 1884, the work carried on in conjunction with it by those now organized as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses has been for only about 100 years. Yes, youthful they were when stepping into the arena of modern religious controversy, yet they went out onto the field with courage. It was like the teenage shepherd boy David, when he challenged the heavily armed Philistine giant Goliath. (1 Sam. 17:23-54) Like David, they knew that they were going forth in Jehovah’s name and that “to Jehovah belongs the battle.”​—1 Sam. 17:47.

16. In spite of Jeremiah’s objection as to his being “but a boy,” what did Jehovah then do?

¹⁶ Regardless of their age, Jehovah is able to qualify those whom he chooses for his service. The experience of Jeremiah as a pre-Christian witness of Jehovah proves that to be true, for our encouragement today. Jeremiah’s own biography says: “And Jehovah went on to say to me: ‘Do not say, “I am but a boy.” But to all those to whom I shall send you, you should go; and everything that I shall command you, you should speak. Do not be afraid because of their faces, for “I am with you to deliver you,” is the utterance of Jehovah.’ At that Jehovah thrust his hand out and caused it to touch my mouth. Then Jehovah said to me: ‘Here I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have commissioned you this day to be over the nations and over the kingdoms, in order to uproot and to pull down and to destroy and to tear down, to build and to plant.’”​—Jer. 1:7-10.

17. What does Jehovah’s commission to the Jeremiah class not authorize the members of it to do?

¹⁷ The Jeremiah class of our time understand their commission from Jehovah. They know that this commission does not authorize them to indulge in worldly politics, to promote or take active part in political revolutions or to engage in nihilistic, anarchistic movements. That is not God’s way for them “to uproot and to pull down and to destroy and to tear down.” Their being “over the nations and over the kingdoms” is not that they may dictate to the nations and kingdoms or take over full control of them. In Jeremiah’s day he did not carry out his commission from the Most High God in that way. Neither do those of the anointed Jeremiah class of today do such a thing. They are peaceful, orderly, law-abiding citizens of the land of their residence.

18. In what sense is the Jeremiah class over nations and kingdoms, and in what sense does this class act as commissioned toward such nations and kingdoms?

¹⁸ In what sense, then, are they “over the nations and over the kingdoms”? How do they carry out their supranational commission from Jehovah, in whose name they have been sent? Well, they are given a position or office that comes from a source higher than the worldly nations and kingdoms. For this reason they are duly authorized to make pronouncements world wide that these nations and kingdoms would not commission the Jeremiah class to pronounce without worldly diplomacy. With authority from the Most High God and in the language of his Bible, they merely declare that these nations and kingdoms will be uprooted from their entrenched places, pulled down, torn down and destroyed at God’s due time and by his chosen means. (Compare Ezekiel 43:3; Genesis 41:11-13.) It is as if the Jeremiah class were doing the uprooting, pulling down, tearing down and destroying, for what God’s Word tells this class to declare He himself will fulfill.​—Jer. 18:7-10.

19. What does Jehovah thus prove himself to be to the nations, relatively speaking?

¹⁹ In that way God shows himself to be “King of the nations,” showing himself to be superior to them all. None of their kings and rulers can equal him.​—Jer. 10:7; Rev. 15:3, margin; The Jerusalem Bible; The New American Bible.

20. Because of what international reactions does it take courage for the Jeremiah class to carry out its commission from God?

²⁰ It takes courage for those of the Jeremiah class to fulfill this commission, for their message is unpopular world wide. Like Jeremiah of old they have to declare the destruction of all worldly nations. (Jer. 25:15-30) So they cannot share in the fanatical patriotism of these doomed nations. They cannot imbibe the nationalistic spirit of modern times. Kings and rulers of today consider the message of the Jeremiah class to be seditious, disloyal, damaging to the morale of their subjects and weakening to the defense forces of their lands. So they threaten these proclaimers of Jehovah’s prophetic message to the modern world. In many cases they back up their threats with suppression of the Jeremiah class and with various forms of punishment to try to deter this class. So it becomes necessary to imitate Jeremiah and obey Jehovah as “King of the nations” rather than men. That is what Christ’s apostles of the first century did.​—Acts 4:19, 20; 5:29.

“They Will Not Prevail Against You”

1, 2. Why, in this “time of the end,” is there no time to lose on the part of the Jeremiah class?

THE year 1919, the year of the Versailles Peace Treaty following World War I, marked a turning point for the anointed Jeremiah class. In no uncertain Bible terms they took up Jehovah’s message of destruction for this system of things during God’s approaching war at Har–Magedon.​—Rev. 16:13-16.

² Certainly now, when more than 57 years have passed by since 1919, there is no time to lose. In Jeremiah’s case, he had only a limited time​—40 years—​in which to declare Jerusalem’s impending destruction. His modern counterpart likewise has only a limited time. There is every reason for us to keep awake. Now, so many years after Jehovah commissioned the Jeremiah class, He is still awake to his purpose with special regard to this “time of the end” in which the nations find themselves. (Dan. 12:4) He is keeping awake as to what he has purposed to do when this “time of the end” terminates. Jeremiah 1:11, 12 makes this certain:

3, 4. How did Jehovah illustrate to Jeremiah his own wakefulness as regards his purpose, and now what question do we properly ask ourselves?

³ “And the word of Jehovah continued to occur to me, saying: ‘What are you seeing, Jeremiah?’ So I said: ‘An offshoot of an almond tree [Hebrew, shaqéd] is what I am seeing.’ And Jehovah went on to say to me: ‘You have seen well, for I am keeping awake [shoqéd] concerning my word in order to carry it out.’”

⁴ Who, then, of us today, whether we belong to the anointed Jeremiah class or belong to those actively supporting that class, dares to discontinue his own personal wakefulness? We do the wise thing if we imitate Jehovah himself. To illustrate his own wakefulness he caused Jeremiah to see in vision the “offshoot of an almond tree.” Jeremiah knew that the word for “almond tree” (shaqéd in Hebrew) means “one awakening.” This tree is the first one to awake in the spring of the year by its blossoming. Jehovah was like the “offshoot of an almond tree” in his own awakening to the season into which the nations and kingdoms were entering. His prophetic Word applies at a certain time, and at that time he will carry it out. His word will never fail owing to any inattentiveness on his part. Do we believe that today when we are at the threshold of the year 1978?

5. How did Jehovah show his wakefulness toward the increasing urgency of his message, and how should we correspond with this?

⁵ Because Jehovah has kept awake during all these decades within this “time of the end,” he has continued sending forth the Jeremiah class to serve notice upon the nations and kingdoms. (Compare 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16, NW; Byington.) As the time for Jehovah’s executing of judgment upon the nations and kingdoms gets ever closer, the situation becomes more urgent for him to see that such warning notice is served world wide, especially for the benefit of individuals who must take a personal stand. Keeping in mind that Jehovah is as awake as ever and will be ready on time, those of the Jeremiah class should keep awake to the increasing urgency of their message. They should keep themselves awake by steady activity in widely proclaiming it.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE END OF THIS SYSTEM

6, 7. By the illustration that Jehovah next gave to Jeremiah, what do we know about the impending destruction of the present system?

⁶ By Jehovah’s inspired Word we know the Source of the destruction that impends over the present system of things. Hence, we know the direction from which the destruction comes, and also the agency that will be used. We get a further clue concerning this from the illustration that Jehovah sent to Jeremiah at the time of commissioning him to be “prophet to the nations”:

⁷ “And the word of Jehovah proceeded to occur to me the second time, saying: ‘What are you seeing?’ So I said: ‘A widemouthed cooking pot blown upon is what I am seeing, and its mouth is away from the north.’ At this Jehovah said to me: ‘Out of the north the calamity will be loosened against all the inhabitants of the land. For “here I am calling for all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” is the utterance of Jehovah; “and they will certainly come and place each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all her walls round about and against all the cities of Judah. And I will speak with them my judgments over all their badness, in that they have left me and they keep making sacrificial smoke to other gods and bowing down to the works of their own hands.”’”​—Jer. 1:13-16.

8. Why was the visionary cooking pot blown upon, and what was indicated by its being tilted away from the north?

⁸ We remember that Jeremiah was raised up in 647 B.C.E. and commissioned to be “prophet to the nations.” Disastrous trouble was already then brewing for Jerusalem and the land of Judah. What was being boiled in the cooking pot seen in Jeremiah’s vision was nothing good for renegade Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The purpose for which the cooking pot was being “blown upon” was not to cool the contents of the pot but was to fan the flames of the fire underneath this caldron. The fact that the wide mouth of the pot was tilted away from the north meant that the boiling hot contents were to be poured out upon what lay to the south. That meant Jerusalem and the land of Judah. The calamity upon them was not to come up from Egypt to their south. It would come southward by a northern route upon the doomed cities.​—Jer. 4:6, 7; 6:1, 22.

9. What spillages of the symbolic “cooking pot” did Jeremiah see poured out upon the land of Judah?

⁹ The contents of the symbolic cooking pot that Jehovah would dump out upon the land of Judah would be “all the families of the kingdoms of the north.” Babylon would therefore be the leading figure in this invasion of the land of Judah, for the Babylonian Empire was then rising to become the Third World Power of Bible prophecy. Jeremiah as prophet had to wait 27 years before he saw that symbolic cooking pot pour out its first invasion of the land of Judah by Babylon’s military forces, in 620 B.C.E. Three years later there came another spillage of the symbolic cooking pot with a second invasion by the Babylonians, and Jeremiah finally came under the kingship of Zedekiah the vassal of Emperor Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Then came Zedekiah’s revolt, and in 609 B.C.E. the symbolic cooking pot was completely turned over for a third and final spillage of Babylonian hordes upon the cities of Judah.a In the summer of 607 B.C.E. the “calamity” reached its peak in the destruction of Jerusalem. By early autumn of that year all the land of Judah was left desolate.

10. The Jeremiah class expect to witness what was foreshadowed by that ancient “calamity” visited upon whom?

¹⁰ Those of the Jeremiah class today expect to witness what was foreshadowed by that ancient “calamity”! Yes, they expect to see “calamity” upon a far greater scale befall Christendom, the modern counterpart of renegade Jerusalem and the land of Judah.

11. How does the Bible searchlight reveal Christendom’s “badness” to be like that of renegade Jerusalem and Judah?

¹¹ Age-old Christendom is marked by ‘all the badness’ that perverted ancient Jerusalem and the land of Judah. The Bible searchlight, when turned upon Christendom, reveals that, in spite of Jehovah’s Ten Commandments, she sacrifices to “other gods.” Yes, she worshipfully bows down to the work of human hands. She professes to be Christian, but she does not imitate Jesus Christ in being separate from this ungodly world. She is pervaded with the divisive, war-breeding nationalism of the day. Let a national crisis come along, and she shows herself to be a worshiper of the political State, the work of human hands. The vast wealth of the churches of Christendom brands her as a worshiper of materialism. Active friendship with this world makes her Jehovah’s enemy!

12. Of what did Jehovah forewarn Jeremiah, and what promise did Jehovah give him, for our encouragement also?

¹² Jeremiah of old had to point out that Jehovah was justified in pouring out national calamity upon the Israelites for breaking their holy covenant with him. Jehovah knew that what he began commanding Jeremiah in 647 B.C.E. to speak to the inhabitants of the land of Judah would not please the majority. So he forewarned Jeremiah by frankly telling him that the kings of the land, the princes, the priests and the people of Judah would fight against him. His very life would be threatened. So, what if Jehovah had not promised the young prophet that all these foes would not prevail against him? Would he have had the heart to carry on doggedly for 40 years as Jehovah’s “prophet to the nations” and finally see his vicious enemies go down in defeat? It is hard to think so! Jehovah’s promise to Jeremiah of old applies to the Jeremiah class of today and to their supporters!

13. In view of what pile of charges against Christendom is the symbolic “cooking pot” boiling against her?

¹³ Jehovah’s symbolic “cooking pot” for this “time of the end” is boiling today. As in the case of the “seven golden bowls that were full of the anger of God” as seen in Revelation 15:7, the “cooking pot” represents the container of the full-scale “calamity” from Jehovah upon Christendom. Christendom certainly has a pile of immoralities for which Jehovah must call her to account inasmuch as she claims to be in the “new covenant” with him through Christ. He now finds her hands drenched with the blood of two world wars, besides her violent persecution of his Christian witnesses. Appropriately it is His words as set forth in Jeremiah 2:34 that the Jeremiah class of today direct against Christendom, namely: “In your skirts there have been found the blood marks of the souls of the innocent poor ones. Not in the act of breaking in [on the part of the poor innocent ones like burglars] have I found them, but they are upon all these [skirts].”​—See The Watch Tower under date of November 1, 1923, page 327, paragraph 3 (6).

14. (a) Why is Christendom the most reprehensible part of the world empire of false religion? (b) What will Jehovah spill out upon her from his symbolic “cooking pot”?

¹⁴ Before the gaze of the whole world Christendom still flaunts the evidences of her death-dealing course of action. She is the most reprehensible part of the world empire of false religion, for she claims to act in the name of Christianity or in the name of the religion now approved by the God of the Bible. Because of her disgraceful example, no wonder that the non-Christian world has no respect for what professes to be Christian! By Christendom the God of the Bible has been presented in a false light. Her guilt is not hid from his eyes. He will deservedly punish it openly in full. But first he has raised up the Jeremiah class to call the attention of everybody to the apostate, adulterous course of this the world’s biggest religious organization. Toward it Jehovah has tilted the wide mouth of his symbolic “cooking pot.” The hour approaches when He will turn it completely over and spill out his heavenly executional forces upon this modern counterpart of apostate, adulterous Jerusalem and land of Judah. Destruction will thus overtake this chief defamer of His holy name.​—Jer. 1:14-16.

15. Why must the Jeremiah class keep hips girded and stay active on foot, and until when?

¹⁵ All the work of the Jeremiah class is not yet over. Those of this class must keep their hips girded and stay active on their feet until their commissioned work is completed. All the “great crowd” of Christians who actively support the Jeremiah class must keep working with them. The Jeremiah class still needs to stand immovable like an “iron pillar” and a “fortified city” with “copper walls.” This is what Jeremiah of old did. Jesus Christ was not one whit behind Jeremiah in declaring the impending destruction of the Jerusalem of his day, which destruction came 676 years after the Jerusalem of Jeremiah’s day perished. As anointed followers of Jesus Christ the Jeremiah class of today must do the same thing, until they witness the destruction of the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem and Judah of our times.

16. Like Jesus, the Jeremiah class must declare what two themes?

¹⁶ Like Jesus, the Jeremiah class must declare, not just the “acceptable time,” “the year of goodwill on the part of Jehovah,” but also “the day of vengeance on the part of our God.”​—Isa. 61:1, 2; 49:6; 2 Cor. 6:2; Jer. 11:20; 20:12; 46:10; Luke 21:22, Authorized Version.

17. Intensification of their fight against us should not cause us to do what respecting kings, princes, priests and people?

¹⁷ These “last days” of this system of things are no time for us to “put on the soft pedal,” just because Christendom’s kings, princes, priests and people will intensify their fight against us. With more than 57 years of public service world wide already behind it, the Jeremiah class is no longer “but a boy.” Since 1919 it has put up with warfare waged against it by the political, religious, and popular elements of this old world.

18. What reassuring words of Jehovah have already proved true regarding the Jeremiah class, and what does this mean for the future?

¹⁸ By now the enduring Jeremiah class should have attained to manhood, adulthood. Because faithful members of the Jeremiah class die off, it may grow fewer in numbers yearly; yet it persists in its work from the High Commissioner, Jehovah. Till now his reassuring words have proved true, that the opposing kings, princes, priests and people would not prevail against it. His words will prove equally true in the more strenuous days just ahead as the time for his vengeance to be poured out from his symbolic “cooking pot” draws near. Our war-minded enemies will not prevail against us! Why not? Because the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, remains with us, to “deliver” us in the future just as he has done in the past. So we shall see our foes bite the dust!

“TO BUILD AND TO PLANT”

19. What positive work was the Jeremiah class commissioned to do, and how has it done this?

¹⁹ Jeremiah of old was commissioned as “prophet to the nations,” not only to uproot, pull down, tear down and destroy, but also “to build and to plant.” (Jer. 1:10) Not “build” what was pulled down and torn down, not “plant” what had been uprooted and destroyed, but foretell the building of what Jehovah purposed to be built and the planting of what he purposed to be planted and grow up to full fruition. This part of Jeremiah’s commission definitely now relates to the true kingdom of Jehovah God now that, since 1914 C.E., “the kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” (Rev. 11:15) Hence, there must now be the global fulfillment of Christ’s 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 doing of this carries with it the planting of true Christianity and the building up of it in many territories newly witnessed to by the Jeremiah class and their active supporters. The spiritual paradise needed to be built up.

20. How did Jeremiah do a building and planting work in his day, and who figure in the fulfillment of such work today?

²⁰ Long ago, in 647-607 B.C.E., Jeremiah himself did a work of planting and building up a class of non-Israelite individuals who were to survive Jerusalem’s destruction in 607 B.C.E. These were the Rechabites, the descendants of Jonadab, and the Ethiopian eunuch named Ebed-melech. (Jer. 35:1-9; 38:1-13; 39:15-18) These God-fearing friends of Jeremiah pictured the “great crowd” who today befriend the Jeremiah class and actively aid this anointed remnant in their work. With the Jeremiah class they face the mounting opposition of kings, princes, priests and people.​—See pages 62-67 of the book You May Survive Armageddon into God’s New World, edition of 1955.

21. How will the loyalty of the “great crowd” to the Jeremiah class be amply rewarded?

²¹ The unbreakable loyalty of the “great crowd” to the Jeremiah class will be amply rewarded. Against them the present-day fighters against God will not prevail. With the Jeremiah class they will survive the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. They will form the basis for the “new earth” under Jehovah’s “new heavens.” (Rev. 7:9-17; 21:1-4) Great is the pleasure that the Jeremiah class has in building up in the “great crowd” the valid hope of inheriting the approaching earthly paradise according to the loving purpose of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah!

[Footnotes]