press was trodden outside the city [God’s organization], and blood came out of the wine press as high up as the bridles of the horses, for a distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs [or, 200 miles].”

59. (a) What flesh will not have its lifeblood trampled out there? (b) What fact does Jehovah say they will have to know, and how will they?

⁵⁹ To a completion Jehovah’s judicial decision will be executed. The nations and their grapes of wickedness will be trampled out of existence, to leave the earth a cleansed place for the righteous to occupy and enjoy. Not all flesh will be in that symbolic wine press. Not all flesh will have its lifeblood trampled out of it. There are those who make Jehovah their refuge and their fortress. These will be kept safe and be preserved, while Jehovah by his King Jesus Christ crushes their enemies and His enemies in the wine press or “low plain of the decision.” These preserved ones are the remnant of spiritual Israelites and the “great crowd” of their dedicated companions who unite with them in calling upon the name of Jehovah for salvation. (Joel 2:32) They are the ones to whom he has prophetically said: “And you people will have to know that I am Jehovah your God, residing in Zion my holy mountain.” With breathless awe they will have looked down from their safe heights into the valley of decision and witnessed how Jehovah gains his magnificent victory by Christ over all the combined nations of Satan’s visible organization.

60. At his victory what will be therefore do, but till then what will we do in obedience to orders?

⁶⁰ At His victory in vindication of his universal sovereignty we witnesses will sing his praises exultantly and will acknowledge him as our God for all time and eternity. We are near the time of his battle and transcendant victory. Till that time his orders for us are to continue united in our service of him. This we will do while we declare his day of vengeance and while we preach and teach the good news of everlasting salvation by his kingdom of his Christ.

The Galilean Paradise

JEHOVAH GOD himself assured the Israelites that the land to which he was bringing them was one that flowed with milk and honey. And Moses, in his parting address to his people, extolled the virtues of the land to which they were about to go. Of the entire land of Palestine Galilee was the most beautiful and fertile, and of Galilee the plain of Gennesaret, northwest of the sea of Galilee, was the choicest. Concerning it the historian Josephus wrote:

“Its nature is wonderful as well as its beauty; its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees there; for the temper of the air is so well mixed, that it agrees well with those of several sorts. Particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air, flourish there in vast plenty; there are palm trees also, which grow best in hot air; fig trees also and olive grow near them, which yet require an air that is more temperate. One may call this place the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together; it is a happy contention of the seasons, as if every one of them laid claim to this country; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruits beyond men’s expectation, but preserves them a great while; it supplies men with the principal fruits, with grapes and figs continually, during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruits as they become ripe together through the whole year; for besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain.”—Wars, Book 3, 10:8.

Helping Men to Security During God’s War

TODAY the nations of the world are interested in security more than ever before. Because of the quarrels they have among themselves relative to world domination, they seek to gain security from one another by making alliances, by means of international espionage and intrigues, by holding summit meetings and by stockpiling all manner of destructive weapons.

With all their feverish activity toward gaining security, they foolishly overlook the greatest threat of all to their very existence, namely, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” That is the war to be concerned about, for it is certain to come and to annihilate all God’s enemies. That war is concerned, not only with global domination, but with universal domination, involving as it does the unseen world. The issue to be settled by that war is Jehovah’s sovereignty by means of his kingdom, for which Jesus taught us to pray.—Rev. 16:14, 16.

Those who would find security during God’s war must heed the call of divine wisdom. Heeding that call provided security for Enoch in a hostile world, for Noah and his family at the time of the Deluge, for Lot and his daughters at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, for the Gibeonites of Canaanland who took their stand with Jehovah’s people in the days of Joshua, even as it did time and again for the nation of Israel.

Concerning divine wisdom and its call we read: “True wisdom itself keeps crying aloud in the very street. In the public squares it keeps giving forth its voice. ‘Turn back at my reproof. . . . As for the one listening to me, he will reside in security and be undisturbed from dread of calamity.’”—Prov. 1:20, 23, 33.a

What is involved in listening to divine wisdom? It means to obey the Scriptural command: “Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.” That means one must show himself meek or humble before God. It also means not only praying, ‘Your will be done on earth as in heaven,’ but making an honest effort to find out what God’s will is now and then doing it lovingly, in faith and obedience. It means calling on the name of Jehovah, making him one’s refuge and dwelling place.—Zeph. 2:3.

As dedicated Christian witnesses of Jehovah we have taken our stand for him and his kingdom, and therefore we can hope for security during God’s war—provided we continue to fulfill our dedication vow, which includes the obligation to sound forth the voice of divine wisdom so that others who are of good will toward God may hear and heed and thus also come in line for this security. More than that, we should be concerned about helping as many as possible to get in line for that security, for each one that does contributes to the vindication of Jehovah’s name.

All this requires of us that we keep on seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, that we buy out the opportune time, for truly the days are wicked, more so than ever before. Let us keep our hope bright, our appreciation keen, our zeal hot for God’s cause. Let us not slack the hand but seek to find ever more and more time, energy and means for letting the voice of divine wisdom be heard on the streets, from house to house, in the homes of the people, from the public platform and incidentally, wherever we can make an opportunity. Let us take care to keep the minor things of life, such as recreation and creature comforts, in their place, making them contribute to our well-being instead of making them the purpose of our life. Let us ever be on guard that the maelstrom of materialism does not suck us into its current and we become of that vast throng today that are lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God.

Because of Christendom’s religious holiday season and the vacations that go with it, December is an especially good month for all, young and old, to help men to security during God’s war, and what better instrument could we have than our New World Translation of the complete Bible? Let us get this volume into their hands and then help them to understand it. Doing so will contribute to the vindication of Jehovah’s name and help others as well as ourselves to security during God’s war.