a compromise of faith? Will their respect for you as a servant of God be undermined? This should be considered, for it may well affect your position in the congregation. But the decision is one that you must make.

As long as this old system of things exists, Christians, who are endeavoring to live in harmony with God’s Word, will have to make decisions relative to their association with it. It is not always easy to decide what to do, but a prayerful consideration of Jehovah’s direction through his Word and organization will help us to make straight paths for our feet.—Ps. 25:4, 5; Prov. 3:5, 6.

Where Is the Witnessing?

The publication Lutheran Witness of March 17, 1964, page 15, says: “Research indicates . . . that it takes 27 years for the average member of our church body to help bring another person to Christ and membership in his Church. . . . During 1962, according to official statistics, 1741 of the 5500 parishes affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod did not gain a single adult by confirmation or confession of faith.”

Other churches in Christendom, if they did the necessary research, undoubtedly would come up with a similar or even higher figure than the twenty-seven years required for a member to bring a new person to his church. True Christians, Jesus Christ plainly indicated, would be known by their regular, busy Kingdom witnessing to people of all the nations.—Matt. 24:14.

Questions From Readers

● Please explain the application of Isaiah 14:12:14. Does it have any application to Satan the Devil?

Isaiah 14:12-14 reads: “‘O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations! As for you, you have said in your heart, ‘To the heavens I shall go up. Above the stars of God I shall lift up my throne, and I shall sit down upon the mountain of meeting, in the remotest parts of the north. I shall go up above the high places of the clouds; I shall make myself resemble the Most High.’”

The first application of Isaiah 14:12-14 is not to Satan the Devil, but is to the ruling dynasty of Babylonian kings beginning with Nebuchadnezzar and ending with Nabonidus and Belshazzar. This dynasty, referred to in Isa 14 verse 4 as the “king of Babylon,” exalted itself highly and shone brightly in the ancient world. Especially so did it desire to be superior to the line of kings that sat on the throne at Jerusalem. In Bible prophecy the kings of the royal line of David were likened to stars; and as these sat on the throne at Jerusalem called “Jehovah’s throne,” they had a brilliance, a royal glory. So, by desiring to make the Israelite kings mere vassals and by finally dethroning them and thus setting himself up above these royal “stars of God,” Babylon’s king was saying in his heart that his ambition was to go up to the heavens of Jehovah, lift his pagan throne up above the symbolic “stars of God” and seat himself on the northerly mountain where Israelites met with their God. In this way Babylon’s king would appear to put himself up above the God of Israel, whom he thus defied, challenged. When Nebuchadnezzar dethroned the “stars of God” at Jerusalem and over turned “Jehovah’s throne,” he may have appeared to himself and to the pagan world to have lifted himself heaven-high. (Compare Matthew 11:23.) So it was the “king of Babylon” who, by what he did to Zion or Jerusalem, had become the “shining one, son of the dawn.” But as ancient Babylon’s fall in 539 B.C.E. this ruling dynasty of Babylonian kings was dethroned, cut down. So rightly could Isaiah say of them: “How you have been cut down to the earth!”

However, the second application of Isaiah 14:12-14 is to Satan the Devil as the king of modern Babylon the Great, that world empire of false religion. Satan the Devil planned to exalt his throne above even the throne being given to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, in 1914. But in the conflict fought in the heavens from 1914 to 1918 the enthroned King Jesus Christ cast Satan out of the heavens down to the vicinity of the earth, debasing him. So of him Isaiah could prophetically state: “How you have been cut down to the earth!” Babylon the Great also had suffered a fall. This was proved by the fact that in 1919 the captive remnant of spiritual Israel was set free, no longer in bondage to religious Babylon the Great and her king, Satan the Devil.

So while the first application of Isaiah 14:12-14 was to the literal, visible king of ancient Babylon, the modern-day application is to the invisible king of modern Babylon the Great, Satan the Devil, as symbolized by the ancient king of Babylon.

Announcements

FIELD MINISTRY

Spiritually fortified as a result of Bible study, Jehovah’s witnesses will be active during January in helping others to acquire spiritual strength. This they will do by discussing with them Bible truths and by offering them a year’s subscription for this magazine, The Watchtower, along with three Scriptural booklets, on a contribution of $1.

1965 ASSEMBLIES

You will be glad to know that arrangements are being made by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society to hold assemblies this year on the dates shown below and at the locations listed. The programs will vary from four to six days in length. Be sure to include at least one of these assemblies in your vacation plans.

Canada

July 1-4: Victoria, B.C. July 8-11: Vernon, B.C. July 15-18: Regina, Sask.; Sudbury, Ont. July 22-25: Peterborough, Ont. July 29-August 1: Brandon, Man. August 5-8: Kitchener, Ont. August 12-15: Quebec, Que. (French). August 19-22: Calgary, Alta.; Saint John, N.B. August 26-29: London, Ont.; Sydney, N.S.

Europe

June 9-13: Dublin, Eire; Edinburgh, Scotland. June 17-20: Oslo, Norway. June 23-27: Helsinki, Finland. June 30-July 4: Rotterdam, Netherlands. July 7-11: Charleroi, Belgium; Luxembourg, Luxembourg. July 14-18: Basel, Switzerland; Vienna, Austria. July 21-25: Berlin, Germany.

United States

July 15-18: Albuquerque, N. M. (tentative). July 29-August 1: Memphis, Tenn. August 12-15: Buffalo, N.Y.; Minneapolis, Minn. (tentative); Nashville, Tenn.; St. Petersburg, Fla. (tentative). August 24-29: New York, N.Y. In addition to these listed for the United States, efforts are being made to arrange for other assemblies on the West Coast, in the Southwest and in the Southeast. Further information will be published as soon as available.

WILL YOU MAKE THIS VITAL DECISION?

Every day we make decisions. Some may mean little in their final outcome, but occasionally we are called upon to decide something that may change the course of our entire lives. A decision you can make now that may bring you eternal benefits is to read every issue of this magazine you now hold. The Watchtower is printed to aid you and all other honest-hearted persons to find and to keep God’s goodwill and the everlasting peace that goes with it. Send today; enjoy its rich benefits for life. One year, $1. Send now and receive free the booklets When God Speaks Peace to All Nations, Healing of the Nations Has Drawn Near and When All Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom.

“WATCHTOWER” STUDIES FOR THE WEEKS

February 21: Death and Hades to Give Up the Dead. Page 37.

February 28: Part Two. Page 44.