“In All the Nations the Good News Has to Be Preached First”

“You will . . . be put on the stand before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them. Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.”​—Mark 13:9, 10.

1. Without the preaching of the “good news,” in what condition would the peoples of the nations have been left, and why?

NO NATION of this twentieth century has been able to prevent the proclaiming of the “good news” inside its borders. In the face of the threatening calamitous end of all the nations of the world the good news has had to be preached in all the nations before their end comes. The good news has been a much-needed comfort to people of all races and nationalities. The failure to preach the good news would have left all people hopeless amid this world distress that now nears its catastrophic climax. The infallible prophet who foretold the preaching first of the good news among all nations must have foreseen the need for such good news to be preached in this most violent century of all human history.

2. Why has the good news that the speaker of the prophecy gave lived on till now?

² The very speaker of this now time-tested prophecy gave the good news that was to be preached. He knew what would be the only good news worth publishing at the crucial time to which he pointed forward, nineteen centuries into the future. The actual carrying out of his prophecy proves that he was no ordinary man. He was no newspaper publisher and owner. He was no editor of some daily newspaper having the greatest circulation of any of the great metropolitan newspapers. The fact is, he never wrote a book, booklet, pamphlet or tract. He did not even write a chapter of the book that is the most widely distributed and translated book ever on earth, the Sacred Bible. Yet the good news that he gave so long ago has lived on and is today being proclaimed in all the nations. Almost unbelievable it seems, and yet really believable it is, for this extraordinary man was Jesus Christ, whom his closest followers proved beyond all doubt to be “the son of God.”

3. On the Mount of Olives, why did Peter, Andrew, James and John have a question to ask Jesus?

³ Once he was talking about a city that has been much in the world news particularly since June of the year 1967​—Jerusalem. To the east of Jerusalem the mountain from which he gave his prophecy about the “good news” is still standing​—the Mount of Olives. The glorious temple built by King Herod the Great is no longer there in Jerusalem, but its absence down to this day is only a further confirmation of the accuracy of his prophecy. Four of his closest followers, namely, the apostles Peter and Andrew, James and John, were with him on the Mount of Olives, enjoying a good view of the fair-looking city of Jerusalem and its temple. If you had heard him tell what they had heard him tell earlier in the day, you too would have had a question to ask him.

4, 5. (a) On what impressive things had one of the apostles remarked to Jesus? (b) Why was Jesus’ reply to this observant apostle doubtless surprising?

⁴ International travelers on sight-seeing tours still flock to the place where that temple stood up till the year 70 C.E. But it was in early spring of the year 33 C.E. that Jesus Christ and his apostles visited that costly temple built by King Herod of Jerusalem. As they were leaving it, one of the apostles said to Jesus: “Teacher, see! what sort of stones and what sort of buildings!”

⁵ A person would have thought that such a magnificent structure, so sturdy, would stand for a couple of thousands of years, like the temple of Athena, the Parthenon, on top of the acropolis of Athens, Greece, or like the Temple of Karnak at Thebes in ancient Egypt. But, doubtless to the surprise of the observant apostle, Jesus Christ answered: “Do you behold these great buildings? By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.” The historian John Mark wrote down this remarkable prophecy of Jesus Christ, when at Rome, some years before the prophecy was fulfilled through the Roman legions in the year 70 C.E. (Mark 13:1, 2) Such destruction of their prized temple of worship would certainly mean a change of affairs for the Jews.

6. (a) According to John Mark, what question did the four apostles ask Jesus? (b) What would have made Jesus’ prophetic reply only a matter of ancient history to us of today?

⁶ What a change in affairs the destruction of King Solomon’s temple at that same place in the year 607 B.C.E. had meant to the Jewish nation! Remembering this, the apostles Peter, Andrew, James and John spoke inquiringly to Jesus Christ as he sat on the neighboring Mount of Olives with the gleaming temple in view. But tell us, John Mark, what question they asked him. Mark 13:3, 4 reports this question: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are destined to come to a conclusion?” If Jesus Christ had confined his description of the “sign” to apply to just the destruction of the city of Jerusalem of his day, it would, in its fulfillment, be merely a matter of ancient history, almost nineteen hundred years ago, and not of too much concern to us living now in these most troublous times.

7. (a) Jesus extended the range of his prophetic answer to include what of concern to us today? (b) What would that destruction signify about the present system of things?

⁷ However, Jesus plainly extended the range of his prophetic answer far beyond Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E., namely, as far as to what was foreshadowed by such destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, so that we should be most vitally concerned today. Well, then, what was foreshadowed? It should be plain, for a shadow always gives us the outline of the substance that stands in the way of the beam of light. Well, then, do we mean that the destruction of Jerusalem and its religious temple outlined as by a shadow a destruction coming upon the organization and structure of some religious system that now claims to be of Jerusalem’s God? Yes, and world developments show it to be due in our day. The people in Christendom have reason to believe that theirs is the religious organization and structure marked for destruction. But, horrified, you may say in objection: ‘The destruction of Christendom would mean nothing less than the end of the world!’ Well, you are right, if by the expression “the end of the world” you mean the “conclusion of the system of things.”​—Matt. 24:3, AV and NW.

8. Do Jesus’ words, “The end is not yet,” give reason for not being concerned now?

⁸ Well, then, this is really something for us of today to be concerned about, since we are to be involved in it. And we really do need the good news about which Jesus spoke. And so let us look into his prophecy. Today millions of persons doubt even the historical existence of Jesus Christ, that he actually lived and died at Jerusalem, and such persons would therefore feel no need of a warning from Jesus against false Christs. (Mark 13:5, 6) But if they are old enough to have lived years before 1914, they might feel that Jesus’ next piece of advice was quite timely: “Moreover, when you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not be terrified; these things must take place, but the end is not yet.” (Mark 13:7) Yes, but from the words “not yet” let us not get to feeling that the “end” will never come, neither the destruction of Christendom as foreshadowed by the destruction of Jerusalem and its sacred temple.

“SIGN” PRECEDING THE END

9, 10. (a) How did Jesus make a dividing point in his prophecy? (b) What was to be the “beginning of pangs of distress,” and what does the expression “beginning” call for?

⁹ What, then, are we to expect before that terrific “end” comes, and what is to be the “sign” preceding it? Listen, now, to what Jesus next says after having made a dividing point in his prophecy by mentioning “the end.” See if you can identify and locate on the stream of time the fulfillment of what Jesus now says:

¹⁰ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, there will be earthquakes in one place after another, there will be food shortages. These are a beginning of pangs of distress.” (Mark 13:8) A “beginning” suggests also an end, and this “beginning of pangs of distress” must therefore closely precede the “end,” accompanied as it will be by what was foreshadowed in the terrible destruction of ancient Jerusalem and her temple. That being so, has mankind had any pangs of distress such as those described by Jesus and designated by him as being the “beginning” that precedes the “end”? Let us answer honestly.

11. (a) What does an honest person identify that “beginning of pangs of distress” as being? (b) What, then, is a fitting time for good news such as Jesus Christ could give? Why?

¹¹ An honest person will answer Yes, mankind has had such pangs. World War I, which started in 1914, was greater than all the wars of previous human history all put together. And there were also serious food shortages, with millions of deaths, that came with and after World War I. Yes, too, there were noteworthy earthquakes in one place after another. And, not to be overlooked, there were pestilences, such as the Spanish flu of 1918 after World War I ended, this flu alone killing off twenty million victims. John Mark’s personal friend, Doctor Luke, mentions pestilence in his historic account of Jesus’ prophecy regarding the same period. Millions of us older people remember these things so well, for we lived through those perilous events. (Luke 21:10, 11) Talk about “pangs of distress”! The distress introduced by those events that attended and followed World War I has not ceased down till this day, nor even grown less. So what a fitting time this is for good news such as Jesus Christ could give us!

12. According to what Jesus next said, how were his faithful followers to fare?

¹² However, according to what Jesus said next in his prophecy his faithful followers were not to have such an easy, comfortable time from even the days of the apostles onward. He said: “As for you, look out for yourselves; people will deliver you up to local courts, and you will be beaten in synagogues and be put on the stand before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them. Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first. But when they are leading you along to deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand about what to speak; but whatever is given you in that hour, speak this, for you are not the ones speaking, but the holy spirit is. Furthermore, brother will deliver brother over to death, and a father a child, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death; and you will be objects of hatred by all people on account of my name. But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.”​—Mark 13:9-13.

13. (a) Despite what must the “good news” be preached? (b) Without what key figure can there really be no “good news” today?

¹³ In spite of all this religious persecution against true, apostolic Christians amid international war, food shortages, earthquakes and pestilences, the “good news” has to be preached first in all the nations. Evidently the preaching of the good news was not to gain for the active true Christians general favor with the nations and peoples. But here it is time to ask, Just what is “the good news”? People in heathendom, in Jewry, in Islam and in Christendom have tried to overlook the key person and to leave him out as man’s last hope, but there can be no truly “good news” today with Jesus Christ not included in it. That is why the historian John Mark opens up the life account about him saying: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ.”​—Mark 1:1.

14. What did Jesus say to show his inseparable connection with the “good news”?

¹⁴ Jesus himself recognized his inseparable connection with the “good news,” saying: “Whoever loses his soul for the sake of me and the good news will save it.” “No one has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news who will not get a hundredfold now in this period of time, . . . and in the coming system of things everlasting life.” “Wherever the good news is preached in all the world, what this woman did [to me] shall also be told as a remembrance of her.”​—Mark 8:35; 10:28-30; 14:9.

15. According to John Mark, what did Jesus himself do about the “good news”?

¹⁵ Rightly, then, Jesus Christ himself preached the “good news,” for no one could preach it better than he could. (John 7:46) In confirmation of this, John Mark reports: “Now after John [the Baptist] was put under arrest Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the good news of God and saying: ‘The appointed time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Be repentant, you people, and have faith in the good news.’”​—Mark 1:14, 15.

16. What was the good news back there, and why was that good news?

¹⁶ Ah, the good news back there was about the kingdom of God, and especially that it had drawn near. The kingdom of God is a good thing, in fact, the best and only thing for all mankind, and the news that it has drawn near would be good news of the most vital importance. It had drawn near nineteen centuries ago in that Jesus Christ, whom God had anointed to be the Messianic king in the heavenly government, had come to earth as a man in order to die a martyr’s death for preaching and teaching that kingdom of God and at the same time die as a ransom sacrifice for all sinful mankind. (John 18:36, 37; Matt. 20:28) But what kind of government will it be​—this kingdom of God with Jesus Christ his Son as King over mankind?

“THE KINGDOM”

17, 18. (a) How did Jesus connect up the kingdom of the good news with the kingdom foretold by Daniel? (b) According to Daniel, along with what must God’s kingdom come, as also foretold by Jesus?

¹⁷ That kingdom must be the one foretold by the prophet Daniel at Babylon in the seventh and sixth centuries before our Common Era, for Jesus Christ connected his own prophecy to his four apostles with the prophecy of Daniel, as he went on to say: “However, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation standing where it ought not (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. Keep praying that it may not occur in wintertime; for those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation which God created until that time, and will not occur again. In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen he has cut short the days.”​—Mark 13:14-20.

¹⁸ The “disgusting thing that causes desolation” is the one foretold in Daniel 11:31 and Da 12:11. (See Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:20, 21.) After foretelling the setting up of this “disgusting thing that causes desolation,” the prophet Daniel also foretells the outbreak of this unparalleled “tribulation” or “time of distress” that Jesus Christ foretold to his apostles. (Dan. 12:1) So the kingdom of God that Jesus said had to be preached as good news must be the same kingdom of God about which Daniel himself prophesied earlier. Daniel foretold that it must come along with an unprecedented time of trouble for the nations of the world. What else could Daniel have meant when he spoke of the last ones of the political rulers of this wicked world and said the following?

19, 20. (a) How did Daniel foretell trouble for the nations in chapter two? (b) In chapter seven?

¹⁹ “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”​—Dan. 2:44.

²⁰ “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin. . . . As for the fourth beast, there is a fourth kingdom that will come to be on the earth, that will be different from all the other kingdoms; and it will devour all the earth and will trample it down and crush it. . . . And the Court itself proceeded to sit, and his own rulership they finally took away, in order to annihilate him and to destroy him totally. And the kingdom and the rulership and the grandeur of the kingdoms under all the heavens were given to the people who are the holy ones of the Supreme One. Their kingdom is an indefinitely lasting kingdom, and all the rulerships will serve and obey even them.”​—Dan. 7:13, 14, 23-27.

21. (a) Did the Christians see God’s kingdom established there in the Middle East in 70 C.E.? (b) How did the Old Jerusalem of the present day come about?

²¹ This is the kingdom of God, the establishment of which means the best news ever published to mankind. But that heavenly kingdom was not established in the year 70 of our Common Era. In that year Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and of its temple without leaving one stone upon another not thrown down. The Jewish Christians were not caught in that destruction, for they had followed Jesus’ advice and had fled to the mountains outside of Judea and Jerusalem. They kept on preaching elsewhere the coming of God’s kingdom, for they knew that it had not come there at Jerusalem’s destruction. Instead of God’s Messianic kingdom being established there at Jerusalem in the hands of the glorified Messiah, Jesus Christ, the conquering Romans set up a pagan city sixty-one years later (131 C.E.). They gave it the status of a Roman colony and called it Aelia Capitolina. That city, with some alterations, has stood down till this day.

22. (a) Did Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E. match Jesus’ prophecy about tribulation? (b) Alongside what recent tribulation does Jerusalem’s destruction fade away to nothing?

²² That destruction of Jerusalem and desolation of the province of Judea, as foretold by Jesus Christ and as described by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, was a horrible affair. But it did not match Jesus’ description of “days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation which God created until that time, and will not occur again. In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved.” (Mark 13:19, 20) By way of comparison with the terrible destruction in the Middle East in the year 70 C.E., what about World War I in the years 1914-1918 C.E.? What about World War II in the years 1939-1945, which culminated with the explosion of two atomic bombs, the first ones used in war? What about the possibilities for tribulation, destruction and horror of another world war, with nuclear bombs carried to their targets by long-range missiles, accompanied by the world’s greatest famine and with a pestilence spread by scientifically made disease-germ spreaders and the atmosphere poisoned by radiological devices? Alongside such calamities, Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E. fades away to nothing.

23. How did Jesus show that Gentile rule of all the earth was not to end in 70 C.E. by an establishment of God’s kingdom then?

²³ No, indeed, Gentile (non-Jewish) rule of the earth was not meant to end in the year 70 C.E. by the setting up of God’s Messianic kingdom in the heavens. Jesus Christ himself said so. In his very prophecy to his apostles, as reported by the historian Doctor Luke with some details not given by John Mark, he foretold earthly Jerusalem’s destruction and said: “There will be great necessity upon the land and wrath on this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.”​—Luke 21:23, 24.

24. When did the Gentile Times begin, and when were they to end?

²⁴ The Gentile Times, or “the appointed times of the nations,” which began back in 607 B.C.E. at the first destruction of Jerusalem and her temple by the Babylonians, were to continue on after the second destruction of Jerusalem and her temple in 70 C.E. Till when? Daniel’s prophecy again comes to our aid, and its Da chapter four shows that these appointed times of the Gentiles’ world domination without interruption by God’s Messianic kingdom were to run all together for 2,520 years, or down till 1914 C.E.

THE GOOD NEWS TO BE PREACHED​—WHEN?

25. In the light of what Paul wrote from Rome to the Colossians, what shall we say about the accomplishment of the preaching work by 70 C.E.?

²⁵ Note here, please, one prominent fact in support of this: The preaching of the good news about God’s kingdom “first” and “in all the nations” was not accomplished by the year 70 C.E. True, the preaching had spread throughout the Roman Empire’s domain. The apostle Paul carried it on in Rome, Italy, although held prisoner there for years. (Acts 28:16-31) And from his prison quarters in Rome he wrote to the Christian congregation in Colossae and said: “The telling of the truth of that good news which has presented itself to you, even as it is bearing fruit and increasing in all the world just as it is doing also among you . . . you continue in the faith, . . . not being shifted away from the hope of that good news which you heard, and which was preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Col. 1:5, 6, 23) The apostle Peter reached old Babylon in Mesopotamia, which was then outside the Roman Empire. (1 Pet. 5:13) This was years before Judea and Jerusalem were desolated in the year 70 C.E.

26. (a) In the Revelation vision given to the apostle John, how was it indicated that the preaching work was not all accomplished in 70 C.E.? (b) What was preached about God’s kingdom from Emperor Constantine’s time onward?

²⁶ And yet, despite such spread of the “good news” even before 70 C.E., the apostle John in a vision that occurred possibly twenty-six years after the wrecking of Jerusalem and her temple was told: “You must prophesy again with regard to peoples and nations and tongues and many kings.” (Rev. 10:11) In describing all the vision, the apostle John speaks of the “great tribulation” as being still future, also of the destruction of Babylon the Great and the fighting of the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at the place called Armageddon as still future from his day. (Rev. 16:13 to 19:21) In no way, then, was Jesus’ prophecy about preaching the “good news” first in all the nations fulfilled in the first century C.E. So onward the preaching of God’s kingdom had to go. From the days of the Roman Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century, there was a preaching of God’s kingdom as having been established because the emperor made the compromising form of Christianity of his day the State religion. The reign of Christ for a millennium (a thousand years) came to be understood as having begun and as being in progress.

27. (a) The preaching from apostolic days down to 1914 C.E. treated God’s kingdom from what standpoint? (b) Also, would that preaching of God’s kingdom over so long a time prove that it had come?

²⁷ Well, now, what about this preaching of God’s kingdom from even the days of the apostles and down to the end of the Gentile Times in the year 1914? Was this the fulfillment of Jesus’ words: “In all the nations the good news has to be preached first”? (Mark 13:10) It was thought so until early in this twentieth century.a But note this: All such preaching of God’s kingdom was done before the ending of the Gentile Times in 1914 and it published God’s kingdom as coming, by world conversion, as many religionists of Christendom thought. Well, then, would such long-extended preaching, stretching out over almost nineteen centuries, be of itself any proof or indication that God’s kingdom had come? No! It is true that, in his prophecy foretelling the Kingdom preaching, Jesus said: “Truly I say to you that this generation [geneá] will by no means pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” But what about that expression “this generation”?​—Mark 13:30, 31.

28. (a) Would the expression “this generation” as applied to the Christian congregation mark out a time of urgency? (b) What is the generation meant?

²⁸ By that expression Jesus was not referring to the entire church or congregation of his faithful disciples, from the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E. until the glorification in heaven of the last member of Christ’s congregation. True, the apostle Peter wrote to the Christian congregation and said: “You are ‘a chosen race [génos].’” (1 Pet. 2:9) But that race or generation would by now be a race or generation over nineteen hundreds of years old. The life length of such a generation would not be a brief time, and so it would not be confined to a limited time of tremendous urgency. However, the expression “this generation” was used by Jesus to mark a very limited period of time, the life-span of members of a generation of people living during the time that certain epoch-making events occurred. According to Psalm 90:10, that life-span could be of seventy years or even of eighty years.

29. What must take place with urgency during “this generation”?

²⁹ Into this comparatively short period of time must be crowded all the things that Jesus prophesied in answer to the request for a “sign when all these things are destined to come to a conclusion.” (Mark 13:4) Because of its being a part of the “sign,” the preaching of the “good news” first in all the nations must be a special preaching that is carried on to a finish during the lifetime of “this generation.” It must, therefore, be an urgent work, which fact is one reason why it must be done “first.”

30. (a) When was the Kingdom preaching of Mark 13:10 due to begin? (b) Was it about the same kingdom about which Jesus and his apostles preached?

³⁰ To be part of the “sign” asked for in Mark 13:4, the particular preaching of the “good news” first in all the nations would have to come after the Gentile Times closed in the early autumn of 1914. It must come after the “beginning of pangs of distress” started in that year. How sorely the poor people of all nations would need good news then under those circumstances! The news would be “good news” about the same kingdom of God that Jesus and his apostles preached back there in the first century C.E. That kingdom is needed now, since 1914, more than ever before, for there is only the one kingdom of God for the lasting peace, security, happiness and salvation of the world of mankind. Yet to the preaching so much more would be added now in comparison with the “good news” preached by Jesus and his disciples nineteen centuries ago. The good news of the day would be richer. How so?

31. Why was the “good news” predicted in Mark 13:10 to be richer?

³¹ Well, think of all the fulfillments of prophecy that have taken place in our time. Why, for decades before 1914, Bible students associated with the magazine The Watch Tower and with the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society looked for God’s Messianic kingdom to come into full power in 1914. Why? Because the Gentile Times, “the appointed times of the nations,” were to end in the fall of that year, as marked out by the Bible timetable. Just as the start of the Gentile Times in the fall of the year 607 B.C.E. marked the overturning of the typical, miniature kingdom of God in King David’s royal line among the natural Jews or Israelites, so the converse or opposite would take place at the ending of the Gentile Times 2,520 years later in 1914. What? The restoring, the reestablishing of God’s Messianic kingdom in the hands of the Permanent Heir to the throne of King David.

32. Who is the Permanent Heir in David’s royal line, and how could that one today be such?

³² Who is that Permanent Heir in David’s royal line? All twenty-seven books of the inspired Christian Holy Scriptures (written in Greek) acclaim Jesus Christ as that Permanent Heir of King David. (Matt. 1:1-16; Rom. 1:1-3; Rev. 5:5; 22:16) Though he sacrificed his perfect fleshly body as a ransom for dying mankind nineteen centuries ago, he still retained his right to King David’s throne when Almighty God raised him from the dead as an immortal spirit person in heavenly glory and summoned him back to heaven. (Ps. 110:1, 2; Acts 2:34-36) He is now an invisible spirit person, too glorious for human eyes to see directly.​—1 Tim. 6:14-16.

33. From where must he rule, and in what stages?

³³ Hence his ruling over mankind must be invisibly, and not on a visible material throne in old Jerusalem in the Middle East, at the site where the ancient kings of the royal line of David used to sit. Those earthly kings sat there on what was called “Jehovah’s throne.” (1 Chron. 29:23) But Jesus Christ now actually sits on Jehovah’s real throne, at Jehovah’s right hand, and from there in heaven he now reigns in the midst of his enemies and will reign for a thousand years after the war of Armageddon and the binding of Satan and his demons. (Heb. 1:1-4; 10:12, 13; Rev. 3:21, 7; 5:5) He is mightier than all previous kings of King David’s line.

34. (a) Why, in 1914, did he not need to drive the enemies out of Old Jerusalem in the Middle East? (b) Why is the trampling, spoken of in Luke 21:24, now over?

³⁴ In view of all this, it was not necessary for Jesus Christ and his heavenly angels to drive the non-Christian Turks out of Jerusalem and Palestine at the time that the Gentile Times ended in 1914 and set up a throne at earthly Jerusalem in order to begin reigning as the Messianic King amidst his enemies. He now reigns in the “city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem,” on the heavenly Mount Zion. (Heb. 12:22, 23) No longer is the kingdom of the royal line of David in an overturned condition; no longer is it trampled on by the Gentiles, for the location of his kingdom has been transferred from earthly Jerusalem to “heavenly Jerusalem.” (Ezek. 21:25-27; Luke 21:24) Never again will the Gentile world powers trample on that Davidic kingdom, for never will they be able to trample upon the “heavenly Jerusalem.” This situation has been true since the Gentile Times ended in 1914, at which time the heavenly kingdom was born.​—Rev. 12:1-5.

What Now Distinguishes the Good News to Be Preached

1, 2. (a) What of very present importance has been added to the good news preached by Jesus and his apostles? (b) After the ouster of Satan the Devil, how did the heavens express this addition to the good news?

EVER since the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 something of very present importance has been added to the “good news of God” that Jesus Christ used to preach in the Middle East, preaching to as many cities as possible, just as he said on one occasion: “Also to other cities I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” (Luke 4:43; 8:1; 16:16) After his death and resurrection and his glorification in heaven, his apostles and faithful disciples preached the good news of the coming kingdom of God. (Acts 20:24, 25; 28:30, 31) What vital thing has now been added to the good news of the kingdom of God that Jesus Christ and his zealous apostles used to preach nineteen hundred years ago? This, namely, the birth of God’s Messianic kingdom in the heavens at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. And after the ensuing war in the invisible heavens and the ouster of Satan the Devil and his demons from heaven and down to earth, this announcement was sounded forth, to be added to the good news, as stated in Revelation 12:9-12:

² “Now have come to pass the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been hurled down, who accuses them day and night before our God! . . . On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”

3. (a) Since when has all this wonderful additional information been a fact? (b) What, then, is “this generation” during which the good news must be preached first?

³ What a joy-inspiring addition or enlargement to the good news now to be preached! Now has come the victorious kingdom of our God together with the authority of his Christ, his Messiah! As for Satan the Devil and his demons, they have only a short period of time until they are bound and imprisoned in the abyss after the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Armageddon. All this additional wonderful information has been true since the end of the “appointed times of the nations” in 1914, and particularly since World War I closed in the year 1918. Not before the “appointed times of the nations” ended in the fall of 1914 could the good news be preached of the newborn, established heavenly kingdom of God and of his Messiah. This, then, must be the good news that Jesus Christ in his prophecy said had to be preached first in all the nations. (Mark 13:10) This generation of human society that has seen and experienced the world events since the Gentile Times closed in 1914​—this is the “generation” that will not pass away until all the things foretold have happened, including the preaching of the good news first in all nations.

4. Since when has Mark 13:10 been undergoing fulfillment, and when did this fact begin to be realized?

⁴ Jesus’ prophecy in Mark 13:10, “Also, in all the nations the good news has to be preached first,” has not been undergoing fulfillment during the past nineteen centuries. It is only since the second decade of our twentieth century that this prophecy has been undergoing fulfillment. This began to be realized by the International Bible Students Association and the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society since the end of the second decade of our century. In the magazine issue of July 1, 1920, of The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence the article was published entitled “Gospel of the Kingdom” and based on the theme text, “‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.’​—Matthew 24:14.” In the last six paragraphs it said:

5-7. How did that issue of The Watch Tower present that new understanding of Matthew 24:14?

⁵ “It will be noted he does not say the gospel that has been preached to the meek throughout the entire Gospel age shall be preached. What gospel then could he mean? The gospel means good news. The good news here is concerning the end of the old order of things and the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom. It means the dark night of sin and sorrow is passing away. It means that Satan’s empire is falling, never to rise again. It means the sun of righteousness is rising rapidly, its healing beams penetrating the darkness and driving back that which obscures the truth and bringing to the people that which will bless, comfort, strengthen and uplift them. . . .

⁶ “It will be observed that in the order named this message must be delivered between the time of the great world war and the time of the ‘great tribulation’ mentioned by the Master in Matthew 24:21, 22. This message could not have been delivered prior to the beginning of the world war. Clearly, then, the Master intended for us to understand that a time would come when the church must declare to the world as a witness that the old order is ending and will shortly pass away forever. . . .

⁷ “What a blessed privilege the church now has of being the ambassadors of the Lord’s kingdom and engaging in delivering the good news.”​—Pages 199, 200.

8. (a) What confirms the truthfulness of that “good news” of the Kingdom? (b) Who deserved to hear such “good news,” and why?

⁸ Since the publishing of that new, up-to-date understanding of the prophetic words of Jesus Christ more and more evidence has piled up in the world events and conditions and in the experience of the International Bible Students to prove that God’s Messianic kingdom was indeed born in the heavens at the due time in 1914 and that “this good news of the kingdom” means the fresh, brand-new information that tells of God’s established kingdom. No news of the day could surpass that for real goodness. For this reason the whole world of mankind deserved to hear this good news, “this gospel of the kingdom.” (Matt. 24:14, AV; NW) And according to Jesus Christ all the world of mankind has to hear it. “In all the nations the good news has to be preached,” said he.​—Mark 13:10.

“IN ALL THE NATIONS”

9, 10. (a) In obedience to that prophetic command, what was done? (b) How has this work expanded since the middle of World War II?

⁹ In obedience to the prophetic command to Jesus’ disciples, the earnest endeavor was made to preach to all the nations.

¹⁰ In the midwar year of 1943, in which year the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead for training missionaries was opened up by Jehovah’s witnesses (previously known as International Bible Students), there were fifty-four lands from which the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Pennsylvania was receiving reports on the preaching of “this good news of the kingdom.” More new political nations have been born on earth, and today the organization of the United Nations has 119 member nations, including Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia, Jordan, Israel, Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, and so forth. But today, at the close of the year 1967, Jehovah’s witnesses are reporting from 197 lands on their preaching of “this good news of the kingdom” there. This means preaching even behind the Communist Iron Curtain and under Fascistic dictatorships and in the face of religious persecution, nationalism and militarism.

11. (a) Why is it proper to try to reach all nations with the “good news”? (b) How about the fulfillment of Mark 13:10?

¹¹ While there is yet time, Jehovah’s Christian witnesses are determined and putting forth sincere and courageous efforts to penetrate all other lands with “this good news of the kingdom.” Jesus Christ did not exclude any nations from hearing the good news of God’s established kingdom; he said “in all the nations.” It is right and proper, therefore, to try to reach all nations, more and more of them as time and opportunity allow. But in view of the number of nations and lands that have already heard the good news preached by Jehovah’s witnesses, who is there now to say that the prophecy of Jesus Christ is not at present undergoing fulfillment, or is not rapidly nearing the culmination of its fulfillment? No honest, informed person can say that it is not!

12. (a) This preaching of the “good news” in so many lands is part of what proof? (b) What part of the distress should we shortly be reaching?

¹² This very preaching by Christ’s faithful followers in already 197 lands and countries is an outstanding part of the “sign” to prove that we are living in the “time of the end” when all the things foretold by Jesus are due to be fulfilled. (Dan. 12:1-4) We are irreversibly moving to the close of this “time of the end” for “all the nations.” The world distress, of which we had a “beginning of pangs of distress” in World War I and its aftermath of food shortages, pestilences, earthquakes, World War II and spreading lawlessness and violence, must shortly reach the ending of the pangs of distress. This will be tribulation on a scale and with an intensity that mankind has never before undergone and never will undergo again. It is before this that “in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.”

“FIRST”​—AHEAD OF WHAT?

13. What is inherent in that word “first,” and why now?

¹³ There is great urgency inherent in that word “first.” Why? Because since the close of the Gentile Times in 1914 and since the adoption of the League of Nations and later the United Nations for world peace and security instead of accepting God’s kingdom peaceably, “all the nations” are marching to the “war of the great day of God the Almighty,” at Armageddon.​—Rev. 16:13-17.

14. (a) What notice must be served upon the nations? (b) Who has limited the time for this, and why must it be done before he acts?

¹⁴ According to the regular way followed by God in dealing with the ancient nations in Bible times, notice must be served upon the worldly nations of the oncoming war and of their certain destruction at the hands of God’s anointed Executioner, Jesus Christ. Hence the good news has to be preached in all the nations. The nations must be confronted with the fact of the established kingdom of God, the rightful government for ruling all the earth. The nations must be made to know in advance not only of the coming destruction but also of the direction from which and the agency by which the everlasting destruction comes upon all the political nations at Armageddon. The time for serving this notice is limited by the Great Timekeeper, Jehovah God, and this fact makes the work of serving the notice most urgent. God Almighty will not act until this work has been done “first.” He will not lay himself open to be accused of taking undue advantage of his enemies.

15. (a) How do we know whether the “good news” is such to all persons? (b) For whose benefit, then, must the “good news” be preached first?

¹⁵ The message of the Messianic kingdom does not mean “gospel” or “good news” to all people on earth. To those refusing God’s kingdom the message preached by Jehovah’s witnesses is not good news. Not strange, then, that many do not take it seriously or try to ignore it, whereas others oppose it and misrepresent it. If they are in political positions of power, they try to suppress it so as to keep others who might like to hear the message from hearing. To persons who have lost confidence in human governments and who grieve at world conditions morally, religiously, socially and politically, the message of God’s established Messianic kingdom is the good news for which they have longed. These are the ones that benefit from the preaching of the good news. They accept it, act upon it and stand in a favored position to escape the certain destruction that will befall Kingdom opposers. It is for the everlasting good of such persons inclined to receive the message as good news that the Kingdom message has to be preached first, that they may be able to act now to avoid destruction.

PREACHING AND TEACHING

16. What did Jesus say should be done as to the “good news,” and yet what should we not think?

¹⁶ However, did you notice Jesus Christ said that “in all the nations the good news has to be preached”? He did not say that ‘in all the nations the good news has to be taught.’ What is the difference? Or what difference does that make? That word “preached” should not necessarily make us think of a priest or clergyman who in professional garments gets up into a church pulpit to give churchgoers a religious sermon. Why not?

17. (a) In the original Greek text, what does the word “preached” basically mean? (b) What would the preachers not necessarily be doing?

¹⁷ The Greek verb translated “to preach” is kerýssein. This Greek verb, which occurs many times in the inspired Greek Christian Scriptures, means basically “to make proclamation as a herald; to be a herald, officiate as a herald; to be an announcer; to summon by herald; proclaim (as a conqueror).” The related noun is kéryx and means “herald; public messenger; envoy; crier (who made proclamation and kept order in assemblies, etc.).” Another related noun is kérygma, which means “that which is cried by a herald; proclamation; announcement (of victory in games); mandate; summons.” So, not inappropriately, The New English Bible, of 1961, reads, at Mark 13:10: “But before the end the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations.” (Also Yg; Ro) This means that the proclaimers would be acting like heralds. They would not necessarily be acting as teachers, conducting Bible studies.

18. So in Mark 13:10, what did Jesus prophesy would be done?

¹⁸ Thus Jesus prophesied that, after the establishment of the Messianic kingdom, the good news would be heralded, announced, proclaimed, and in this way notice would be served upon all the nations. At least, the good news would be heralded, let give ear to it and accept it whoever will, or let turn a deaf ear and reject it whoever will. At least all the nations would be given the witness. Never should they be able to say that the “good news” never came their way in this “time of the end” before Armageddon.

19. So for what did Jesus say, in Matthew 24:14, “this gospel of the kingdom” would be preached?

¹⁹ That is why the statement in Matthew 24:14, which corresponds with that in Mark 13:10, says: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached [or, heralded, proclaimed] in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (NW) “This gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the earth as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” (NEB) Looking forward to our day, Jesus Christ refrained from prophesying that the heralding, proclaiming or preaching of this good news of the Kingdom to all the nations would be for the converting of them to Christianity, in order to line up all nations on the side of God’s kingdom.

20. (a) What about world conversion as a result of the preaching by clergymen and by Jehovah’s witnesses? (b) What, then, was to be a noteworthy part of the “sign” regarding the “end”?

²⁰ The preaching that has been done by all the religious clergy of Christendom for more than sixteen centuries has not resulted in world conversion, nor has it given people a correct understanding of God’s kingdom. The preaching of the good news of God’s now-established kingdom as done by Jehovah’s witnesses since 1919 has not resulted in world conversion, nor did Jehovah’s Christian witnesses expect it to do so. Moreover, Jesus Christ did not prophesy that world conversion to Christianity by preaching “this good news of the kingdom” would be a prominent part of the “sign” that would show that the complete end of this system of things was coming within this generation. He prophesied that the giving of the witness to the established Messianic kingdom would be a noteworthy part of the “sign” of the fast-approaching “end.”

21. Because of its being the only “good news,” what would the preachers want to do with it?

²¹ Because this was the only good news of the time, the heralds or proclaimers or preachers of the Kingdom message would want to share it with as many others as possible, “in all the nations,” and to some persons at least it would come as “good news.”

22, 23. (a) What other informative work did Jesus foretell, and correspondingly what did he himself do? (b) Before leaving his apostles on earth, what work of this kind did he order to be done?

²² The public records verify the fact that Jehovah’s Christian witnesses not only herald, proclaim, preach for a witness or testimony, but also teach all those who accept the Kingdom message as good news. This teaching was also a work that Jesus foretold, although he did not expressly name it in his prophecy on the “conclusion of the system of things.” (Matt. 24:3 to 25:46) Right after giving this prophecy, it is reported, “so by day he would be teaching in the temple, but by night he would go out and lodge on the mountain called the Mount of Olives.” (Luke 21:37) He was often called Teacher, and much of his time he devoted to teaching. (Matt. 8:19; Mark 4:38; Luke 9:38; John 13:13, 14) He did both teaching and preaching. (Matt. 4:23) Two weeks or more after giving his prophecy on the “conclusion of the system of things,” he appeared to his disciples at a mountain in the province of Galilee and gave orders for a future teaching work, saying:

²³ “All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.”​—Matt. 28:18-20.

24. How does the work of a teacher differ from that of a herald?

²⁴ One who teaches (didáskein) differs from a herald, who merely announces or proclaims. A teacher (didáskolos, Greek) instructs, explains, shows things by argument and offers proofs, just as the Greek word didáskein means. So teaching means doing these things, using also the message that has been preached. This teaching work has the aim, not just of giving a witness as in the case of a herald or proclaimer, but rather of making disciples and then, after the baptizing of these disciples of Jesus Christ, helping them to stay his disciples or learners.

25. (a) Why has this teaching work been something regular? (b) Why must this teaching work go on?

²⁵ Down through the centuries since the days of Jesus and his apostles the making of disciples has continued on into this “conclusion of the system of things” and so is just something regular. In order that disciples may continue to be made before religious Babylon the Great (including antitypical Jerusalem, Christendom) is destroyed and the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” is fought at Armageddon, the Christian teaching work with the Bible must go on. In this teaching work, during this past service year of 1967, Jehovah’s witnesses have conducted in private places, weekly, 943,108 Bible studies with persons.

26. (a) Why has the preaching of “this good news of the kingdom” been a startling feature of today’s work? (b) How will Jesus’ prophecy of Mark 13:10 be vindicated, and who are the happy ones today?

²⁶ On the other hand, the preaching, heralding, proclaiming and announcing of “this good news of the kingdom” is a startling feature of only this twentieth century, inasmuch as the established kingdom of God by his Messiah has been a glorious fact only since the Gentile Times ended in 1914. This hope-inspiring good news has to be preached “first” (NW), “before the end” (NEB; AT; Mo); it has been preached by Jehovah’s witnesses thus far with increasing scope and intensity, and it will continue to be preached by them to the finish, in vindication of Jesus’ prophecy. The end, of the approach of which this Kingdom preaching is a trustworthy indication, will come shortly. Happy are all you who, before then, take part in preaching this good news!

Honored to Serve with Jehovah’s Progressive Organization

AS TOLD BY JOHN BOGARD

JULY 1893, about three or four miles from Amsterdam, Holland, was the time and place of my birth. My parents had a hard life trying to make ends meet for a family of five children. Both contracted consumption, and by the time I had reached the age of thirteen we children were orphans. I can well remember seeing my mother waste away in bed throughout two full years, from 160 pounds down to little more than 75 pounds. The doctor could do nothing beyond easing her condition from time to time.

A memory I cherish is the reverence with which my mother viewed the name of the Creator, Jehovah. It was a name by no means strange in our home. Outside the home circle, however, all I can recall is troubles, injustices, and not a little narrow-mindedness. When we children