on any mission in any part of the universe, visible or invisible. There is no friction between parts in his organization. All parts function together smoothly and efficiently in perfection, being pervaded by his holy spirit, the perfect bond of union. The marvelousness of Jehovah’s heavenly organization grows on us more and more, the longer we contemplate it.

MODERN-DAY DISCERNING OF THE HEAVENLY ORGANIZATION

35. When did Jehovah’s Christian witnesses begin to appreciate that He has an organization, and what did the last issue of the Watch Tower magazine of 1924 say about it?

³⁵ Jehovah’s Christian witnesses of this twentieth century have come to appreciate that He has such a marvelous organization. Early in the third decade of our century they were helped by His spirit to perceive this awe-inspiring fact. Before the year 1922 this was called to their attention. After that references to the heavenly organization were made in the religious publications that they used in spreading Bible instruction. For example, in the issue of The Watch Tower as of December 15, 1924, on page 371, under the subheading “God’s Organization,” we read:

The better we understand Jehovah’s plan, the more fully we appreciate the fact that he has the most wonderful of all organizations. His majesty and dignity preclude him from giving direct attention to the details and the execution of his orders. From his eternal throne in the highest heaven he exercises his power as he may will. In the offices of his heavenly courts there are different creatures, as indicated by their names. Some are called cherubim, some seraphim, and some angels. It may be properly said that the angels are messengers and executive officers of the great Jehovah.—Paragraph 3 of the leading article entitled “Rapture of the Angels.”

36. What did the book Prophecy, chapter V, have to say about “God’s Organization”?

³⁶ In the year 1929 the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society published the book entitled “Prophecy,”d chapter V of which bore the title “God’s Organization.” Ezekiel’s vision as described in the first chapter of his prophetic book Eze 1 was applied to God’s heavenly organization of his spirit creatures. On page 121, lines 2-7, it says: “The living creatures and the inanimate objects, or instruments, appearing in the vision, together give the appearance of an enormous living chariot-like organization extending high into the heavens, and over all of which Jehovah God presides.”

37. How did Volume I of the book Vindication apply Ezekiel’s vision of the celestial chariot, and how did this affect the front-cover design of the Watchtower magazine?

³⁷ Later, in the year 1931, the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society published volume one of the book entitled “Vindication.”e This contained a commentary on the first twenty-four chapters of Ezekiel’s prophecy, Eze 1-24 and this book also applied Ezekiel’s vision of the celestial chariot to Jehovah’s organization. At seeing this, Jehovah’s Christian witnesses were filled with such appreciation that, from the issue of October 15, 1931, to that of August 1, 1950, the front-cover design of the Watchtower magazine carried in its upper right-hand corner an artist’s conception of Ezekiel’s vision of the celestial chariot.

38. Measuring only from Ezekiel’s vision, how long was Jehovah’s heavenly organization in existence before the Christian congregation, and to what extent was Ezekiel a witness of Jehovah?

³⁸ Ezekiel had the vision of the heavenly organization of the Most High God 645 years before the organization of the Christian church or congregation in the spring of 33 C.E., on the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem. Jehovah’s heavenly organization was in existence in Ezekiel’s day and was on the move in that year of 613 B.C.E., when Ezekiel was favored with the marvelous symbolical vision. In the visions given to him Ezekiel was a witness of Jehovah’s organization in symbol, but he actually saw how that heavenly organization operated down till Ezekiel finished his writing of prophecy in the year 591 B.C.E. Outstandingly he was one of that great “cloud of witnesses” of Jehovah that the Christian apostle Paul describes in Hebrews 11:1 to 12:1. Out of the 6,961 times that the divine name Jehovah occurs in the inspired Hebrew Scriptures from Genesis through Malachi (New World Translation, edition of 1971), 439 of these instances occur in the prophetic book of Ezekiel, and for sixty-two times Ezekiel quotes God’s statement of his steadfast purpose that nations, peoples and individuals “shall know that I am Jehovah.”

39. Whom does Ezekiel picture in our day and since when, and what was then on the move the same as in Ezekiel’s day?

³⁹ As regards our twentieth century, the prophet Ezekiel well pictures the anointed remnant of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses since the year 1919 C.E., the critical year in which there was a revival of their public activities as foretold in Revelation 11:3-12.f It is true that in 1919 this spiritual remnant did not appreciate Jehovah’s organization as they do today. It is also true that they did not then discern that Jehovah’s organization was prophetically pictured by the symbolic chariot in Ezekiel’s vision, not till the year 1929. Nevertheless, Jehovah’s heavenly organization was, of course, in existence in the year 1919 and it got in spiritual touch with the anointed remnant in that year to revive them as Jehovah’s public witnesses to all the world. That chariotlike organization was on the move then in 1919; it is on the move today, and apparently its wheels of progress are turning faster than ever. Jehovah rides again!

40. At the vision of the “likeness of the glory of Jehovah,” what was Ezekiel moved to do, and at discerning Jehovah’s heavenly organization, what were the anointed remnant of this century moved to do?

⁴⁰ At the visionary “likeness of the glory of Jehovah” the priestly Ezekiel was irresistibly moved to fall upon his face, prostrate. He desired to know why this celestial chariot had drawn up before him and stopped. He found out as a voice came to him from the One enthroned upon the chariot, above the “likeness of an expanse like the sparkle of awesome ice.” (Ezekiel 1:22, 26-28) Likewise, at the discernment of Jehovah’s heavenly organization by the anointed remnant of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses of this century, they were filled with awe. More strongly they felt obliged to worship Him and to become witnesses to his gloriously historical name, Jehovah. World War I having ended on November 11, 1918, and the postwar world having set in, they keenly listened in the year 1919, after their revival, to hear what Jehovah had to say to them through his chariotlike organization.

Chapter 4

Commissioned to Speak in the Divine Name

1. At the vision of the celestial chariot and its Rider at the river Chebar, why did Ezekiel prostrate himself, and about what might he have wondered?

LET us ask ourselves the question, What would I do if the emperor, king or president of my country took his official automobile and drove up to my home and, from his vehicle, made a personal delivery of a national commission to me? Well, that is somewhat of the experience that Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest had by the bank of the river Chebar in the year 613 B.C.E., when, in vision, the celestial chariot of Jehovah, accompanied by four cherubs, wheeled down from the north and halted before him. Overwhelmed at this awe-inspiring spectacle of the “likeness of the glory of Jehovah,” Ezekiel reverently prostrated himself. As he remained prostrate with his face to the ground, wondering what was the purpose of this vision, he heard the voice of the Rider of the celestial chariot speaking to