his treading down the land of Judah in a vast wine press, with a terrible loss of life and spilling of the blood of the guilty. (Jer. 2:21; Isa. 5:1-8) The writer of the prophetic Lamentations mourns over it, saying: “Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, whom Jehovah hath afflicted in the day of his fierce anger. . . . the Lord hath delivered me into hands out of which I am not able to rise up. The Lord hath cast down all my mighty men in the midst of me; he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord hath trodden as a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. Jehovah is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment.” (Lam. 1:12, 14, 15, 18, Da) This illustrates what it will mean when Jehovah gives Christendom the wine-press treatment at Armageddon. Only it will be more appalling, for Christendom extends round the globe. Let no one think of finding refuge then in bloodstained Christendom.

10, 11. (a) Why is there no other place in this old world in which to escape being crushed at Armageddon? (b) Why is taking refuge in the “vine of the earth” something to avoid?

¹⁰ There is no other place in this old world where one may seek refuge and escape from being crushed at Armageddon. All the nations, those of heathendom as well as of Christendom, will be stamped down as in a global wine press. The worldly system of things is like a great “vine of the earth” that has spread all over the earth filling it with its bad fruit, and now it is about time for the entire vine to be uprooted and crushed and all its lifeblood stamped out with the greatest violence. All the nations, even those of Christendom who lay claim to Christianity, have warred among themselves soaking the earth with blood; and now, since the birth of God’s kingdom in the heavens in 1914 and since the world-wide announcement of this royal birth by Jehovah’s witnesses, the nations have risen to the height of their wickedness by preparing for war against Jehovah God and his enthroned King, Jesus Christ.

¹¹ In this hydrogen-bomb era the fruitage of this international “vine of the earth” is reaching its full ripeness and the time for this tremendous vine to be harvested is getting near, to pitch all of it, root, branch and fruit, into the wine press of God’s anger. Jehovah God even urges on the ripening of its ungodly fruitage with this challenge now proclaimed by his witnesses: “Proclaim this among the nations: prepare war, arouse the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-knives into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Haste ye and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together. Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah. Let the nations rouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down, for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Jehovah is at hand in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:9-14, Da) For anyone now to take refuge in the branches of this “vine of the earth,” either continuing as a branch of it or sitting under it and enjoying its fruitage, means to be stamped out of existence with it in the wine press of God’s anger. That crushing experience is certainly something to be avoided.

12. What is one outstanding reason for God’s crushing out the life of this world, and what especially comes in for its due in this regard?

¹² One outstanding reason for God’s crushing the lifeblood out of this worldly system of things is the enormous bloodguiltiness that rests upon it and that must be punished. This is true not only of the political, commercial and social organizations of this world but also of its religions. All the religions of this world now associate with the international alliance, the United Nations, and support it. These religions are all symbolized under one figure, that of the great harlot, Babylon the Great, who rides the seven-headed wild beast to a battle against Jehovah’s “Lord of lords and King of kings.” All the blood unrighteously shed on the earth is due to false religion and hence is laid to the charge of this mysterious Babylon the Great. Calling her bloodguiltiness to notice just before she is executed, John the beholder of the Revelation vision says: “I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. . . . Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.” (Rev. 17:6; 18:24, NW) In executing judgment at Armageddon the God of justice renders to all worldly religion her dues for her sickening bloodthirstiness and bloodguiltiness.

13. What do the heavenly hosts say as respects this act of judgment, and how will the guilty drink their own blood?

¹³ Because of this act of judgment the heavenly hosts give Jehovah praise, saying: “Praise Jah, you people! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her [religious] fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.” The long record of worldly religion, reeking with blood, must now be shown up and the coming judgment of those who have shed innocent blood under the instigation of Babylonish religion must be declared, to show that God is righteous: “You . . . are righteous, . . . because they poured out the blood of holy ones and of prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. . . . Yes, Jehovah God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your decisions.” (Rev. 19:1, 2; 16:5-7, NW) The guilty will be made to drink their own lifeblood by their own deserved death at Armageddon.—Isa. 49:26.

Avoidance Inside the Cities of Refuge

1. Why do we need a place of refuge at Armageddon, and how did God picture it prophetically for us?

BLOODGUILT cleaves to all the world. While outwardly striving for international peace in her own way, Christendom is at the same time taking the lead in preparing the most sanguinary war of all time. Where is there a place for us to escape from having any part in the world’s bloodguilt at Armageddon, that our own lives may not be required of us according to Jehovah’s covenant concerning the sacredness of blood? Jehovah has provided the only place of escape and refuge, and he pictured it for