to the good of all and to the praise of Jehovah’s name. The members, the individuals of the nation of Israel, were children of the organization of Israel.—Amos 3:1, AS.

24. What points have been touched upon, and on which one shall we see that which follows?

²⁴ To some extent the foregoing shows Jehovah’s supremacy, his kindly provisions as the Creator, and introduces the matter of his relationship to his creatures as they exist in organizations he has formed. Shall we consider some additional information in his Word concerning this latter point? See that which follows.

Jehovah: Husband, Father and Teacher

“All thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”—Isa. 54:13, AS.

1. Who can best show Jehovah’s relationship to his servants, and how can we grow in appreciation of it?

NONE appreciate the relationship of the true God to his creatures as does Jehovah himself. He can describe it best, and he does so in varied terms that we can understand. By applying ourselves to God’s Word we can grow in appreciation of Jehovah’s relationship to those who serve him.—John 17:15-21, NW.

2. Show the propriety of Jehovah’s terming himself a “husband” to his organization.

² If a man should form an organization, be devoted to its purposes, seek its interests, be faithful to it, look to the welfare of all its members, give it time and attention, rejoice in its productivity, and so be united with it intimately, can it not be properly said that such a person is “married” to that organization? Yes, because, figuratively, “marriage” means just such a close union. It is consistent and in all good taste for Jehovah God to designate himself as a husband to his organization. This may seem strange at first thought; but how would we describe this relationship of close union in a better way? We have in mind the good husbandly arrangement of marriage among Jehovah’s worshipers, as we see God’s own references to himself as a husband, to the nation of natural Israel as an example.

3, 4. In the illustrative case of the nation of Israel, how was Jehovah a husband?

³ How was Jehovah a husband to the nation of Israel? In that he conformed to the illustrative case of the man mentioned in the preceding paragraph. For one thing, toward Israel he was not a husband with many earthly wives. No; to the contrary, he stated to Israel: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:2, AS) Jehovah was faithful to Israel, but that nation transgressed God’s law and turned away from him, and so we read at Jeremiah 3:14: “Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you.” (AS) Looking ahead prophetically through the years after having cast off the unfaithful “wife”, Israel: “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah.”—Jer. 31:31, 32, AS.

⁴ This relationship and Jehovah’s constancy as a husband and his justification in casting off the nation that became ungodly, turning against him, are shown prophetically by Hosea: “Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts.” (Hos. 2:2, AS) In verse seven the original husbandship is shown in conjunction with this devastating denunciation of the unfaithful organization Ho 2:7 : “And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.”

5. Give Bible proof that Jehovah is as a husband to his universal organization.

⁵ The relationship of husband is not restricted to the organization of Israel. That nation, long ago cast off, was prophetic of greater, enduring things. “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” (Gal. 4:26; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11, NW) Surely, Jehovah does hold the universal organization of his creatures as a wife, in loving relationship, and properly designates himself as its husband. Does he identify himself in some further capacity in relationship to his organization and its members? He does.

FATHER

6. What is another capacity in which Jehovah reveals himself?

⁶ A reference to Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition, confirms our general understanding of the meaning of “parent”. It is, as a noun: “one who begets, or brings forth, offspring; a father or a mother; a source; author; also, a cause”; as an adjective: “that constitutes the original source from which something springs or issues; that supports, protects, or controls others as subsidiaries; as, a parent organization.” Could we say that the God who makes the organization and is its husband is also the father of the individuals produced by that organization who become members of it? Yes, and Jehovah reveals himself as the great Father.

7, 8. Who are included as children of Jehovah?

⁷ Those to whom he gives life are his children. An example of this is the Logos. The “Logos”, or the “Word”, is shown to be Jehovah’s direct creation and the active agent of his in the creation of other spirit sons of God as well as of all other things. “Originally the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. This one was originally with God. All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.”—John 1:1-3, NW.

⁸ Those creatures who are produced through the operation of his organization and are made members of his organization are likewise his children. Examples of such are the spirit sons of God. These angels, cherubim and seraphim, were included in the creations of God through the Logos. Such is true of Adam as well. Luke points this out at chapter 3, verse 38 Lu 3:38 (NW): “ . . . Adam, the son of God.” Not only was the Logos the only-begotten Son, as above mentioned, but being sent to earth as the human babe, Jesus, he is shown to be the “Seed” of God’s organization, which organization was apparently barren of the seed of promise until Jesus was born a man child.—Gal. 3:16, NW.

9. In Israel, who were God’s children?

⁹ The statement of Jeremiah chapter thirty-one, to which previous reference has been made, corroborates the fact that the individual members, individual Jews,