and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father”, then they must each one endeavor to “keep oneself without spot from the world”. (Jas. 1:27, NW) They tell the officials that they are absolutely neutral toward the political disputes and the international controversies and combats of this world. They take no active or violent part for either side, but pay their vows to God and always advocate his kingdom and way of salvation.

15. Why do they not fight for territories or resist political changes?

¹⁵ Like the priests and Levites of Israel who were specially dedicated to Jehovah’s service at his temple, they have no inheritance in this world. So they do not fight for territories; and if they suffer loss of property through persecutions by their home government or through invasion of the land by armed aggressors, they trust in God to provide them with life’s necessities. As Paul in prison wrote to his fellow witnesses: “You both expressed sympathy for those in prison and joyfully took the plundering of your belongings, knowing you yourselves have a better and an abiding possession.” (Heb. 10:34, NW) Rather than be killed in the violent endeavor to protect material properties of this world, they preferred to live in a despoiled condition that they might keep on witnessing for God’s kingdom and “preach the word” and “be at it urgently in favorable season, in troublesome season”. No matter what political or governmental changes may take place over their heads, they in their neutral position are obliged to submit to them and to carry on with God’s work the best they can under the altered conditions. They know that God’s kingdom, which the sermon on the mount teaches them to pray for and which they preach, will take full charge of all the earth after Armageddon.—2 Tim. 4:2, NW.

GOSPEL MINISTERS AND AMBASSADORS EXEMPT

16. From what does God now exempt them? So what should officials do?

¹⁶ The consecrated priests and Levites were exempted from conscription for military service in Israel. (Num. 1:45-54; 2:32, 33) Since Jehovah’s witnesses are consecrated to God as followers of Jesus Christ, they should likewise be exempted from military duties with carnal weapons. God now exempts them, not requiring them to fight as did Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, Barak and David of ancient times. Jehovah God has made these Christian witnesses his ministers of the Kingdom gospel. In the United States of America the Selective Service Act of 1948 exempts ordained and regular ministers of the gospel from military obligations. But the officers charged with applying that Act allow the exemption only to those who are full-time ministers, and not to all the rest. But each one of Jehovah’s witnesses has as his vocation the ministry and is a minister of the gospel, whether able to render full time or only part time. Not merely the full-time servants among them, but each and every one of Jehovah’s witnesses is under a vow of dedication, which involves “duties superior to those arising from any human relation”. God’s Word therefore appoints each and every one of them a minister of God and preacher of the Kingdom gospel; and officers of the law of the land, while having a legal right to do so, have no Scriptural right to discriminate and limit military exemption only to some, while excluding others. In doing so they must take responsibility before God for ‘framing mischief by law’.

17. Why, according to Jesus’ prophecy on the consummation of this system of things, may they not abandon their neutrality?

¹⁷ Being such ministers and preachers, they have not abandoned their neutrality as conscientious objectors and turned aside to engage in military support of this or that side of any worldly conflict. Jesus predicted their neutrality and their preaching activities at this militant time. When he prophesied, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom,” he did not say his true followers would engage in such armed rising. Instead, he foretold they would be roughly treated and be “hated by all the nations”, not just enemy nations, but all. Then giving Jehovah’s witnesses a commission for this day as well as foretelling what type of work they would do, he said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.” (Matt. 24:14, NW) So now each and every witness who is under vow to Jehovah God through Christ must obey that prophetic command and fulfill his commission as an ordained minister of the good news of the Kingdom. There is no exemption to any consecrated minister. Those taking the lead among them must set the example, and the others must imitate them. (1 Pet. 5:1-3) These leading ministers do not engage in carnal warfare, but preach. The rank and file of Jehovah’s witnesses, being also ministers of God, copy their faithful example and peacefully preach.

18, 19. How as God’s ambassadors do they have conscientious objection?

¹⁸ To these Christian witnesses the apostle Paul wrote: “He committed the message of the reconciliation to us. We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’” (2 Cor. 5:19, 20, NW) As “ambassadors substituting for Christ” Jehovah’s witnesses have conscientious objection to serving in the military and related establishments of the nations.

¹⁹ Ambassadors are exempt from military service in the nation to which their government sends them, especially in a hostile nation. Remember, in Bible times ambassadors were sent, not to friendly nations, but to nations at war or threatening war. God’s ambassadors substituting for Christ are not sent to friendly nations, but to hostile nations. All nations of this world of Satan are hostile to God. The message given these ambassadors to deliver is, “Become reconciled to God.” This shows that the nations are not friendly. How, then, could these ambassadors Scripturally serve in the military forces of such nations or Scripturally consent to do so when required by national law? To desert the ranks of His ministers and thus quit preaching would mean to fight against God, who sent his ambassadors that they might call on the nations to become reconciled to God, not fight him. Jehovah’s witnesses are God’s ambassadors sent to ALL the nations, with the same message for all. Consequently they have not enlisted in the fighting forces of any of the nations. They maintain strict neutrality toward such nations in their mortal combats. They keep true to the divine government, which sends them as ambassadors, even though this neutrality and this Kingdom-preaching cause them to be “hated by all the nations”. They have not fought for the unreconciled systems which God will destroy at Armageddon. Hence their conscientious objection!

20. What terms applied to them in their conflict show they are no pacifists?

²⁰ Concerning these ambassadors the apostle says in this same letter: “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:3-5, NW) For this spiritual warfare you are ordered: “Take up the complete suit of armor from God”; and such spiritual armor you must take up “that you may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; because we have a fight, not against blood and flesh, but against the [spiritual] governments, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” Satan the Devil is the “ruler of this world” and the “god of this system of things”. (Eph. 6:11-13 and John 12:31 and; 2 Cor. 4:4, NW) The very application of such military terms in a spiritual way to God’s ambassadors shows they are not pacifists.

21. In what warfare and in whose army are they? So why keep neutral?

²¹ Their warfare is not against blood and flesh. Their real foes cannot be touched by carnal weapons, and hence they take up God’s spiritual armor. They turn their fighting qualities and energies into the spiritual warfare in order to liberate people from the bondage of the wicked spirit forces dominating this world. They are in God’s spiritual army under Jesus Christ. For them to desert it and join this world in its fights would be disloyalty to God and Christ. It would deserve to be punished with destruction without hope of any life in the righteous new world. They must keep their agreement with God and pay their vow to him, for those who are “false to agreements” are by God’s law “deserving of death”. (Rom. 1:31, 32, NW) So Jehovah’s witnesses keep neutral toward worldly conflicts and obey these strict orders from on high: “As a right kind of soldier of Christ Jesus take your part in suffering evil. No man serving as a soldier involves himself in the commercial businesses of life, in order that he may meet the approval of the one who enrolled him as a soldier.” (2 Tim. 2:3, 4, NW) By this neutral stand toward worldly conflicts and by loyal endurance in the spiritual warfare these soldiers enrolled by Christ meet his approval.

AN EARTH-WIDE BROTHERHOOD

22, 23. Because of being what kind of association may they not engage in international strife? Under what instructions are they?

²² Since God’s ambassadors are sent to all nations with the one message of reconciliation, then all those who become reconciled to him become one earth-wide association of brothers. In just that way Jehovah’s witnesses are an international congregation of Christian brothers. God’s Word forbids them to split up over selfish interests and start fighting one another; it commands them to keep united and preserve peace among themselves. To emphasize this, the question was asked: “Does Christ exist divided? . . . For whereas there are jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and are you not walking as men do?” (1 Cor. 1:13; 3:3, NW) On this account they have not abandoned their neutrality toward this world and joined the armies of this divided world under their enemy Satan the Devil. To do so would have meant to become pitted against their spiritual brothers, the children of God, just as in war Protestant becomes pitted against Protestant, Catholic against Catholic, Jew against Jew. This would have resulted in fratricidal warfare for which they would be held strictly accountable by their heavenly Father. Contrary to taking or seeking to take the life of their brothers, the sons of God, they are exhorted to lay down their lives for their brothers, in imitation of Jesus Christ and not of Cain who slaughtered his brother Abel. Hence the apostle John writes:

²³ “Do not marvel, brothers, that the world hates you. We know we have passed over from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a manslayer, and you know that no manslayer has everlasting life remaining in him. By this we have come to know love, because that one surrendered his soul [or, life] for us; and we are under obligation to surrender our souls [or, lives] for our brothers.”—1 John 3:11-16, NW, margin.

24. Instead of breaking hearts and wounding, what must they now do?

²⁴ The spirit of Jehovah God is upon his witnesses for them to “preach good tidings unto the meek” and to “bind up the brokenhearted”, rather than to break hearts by carnal combat. Now when the river of life-saving truth is flowing forth from the throne of God’s established kingdom, his witnesses must be like trees whose leaves are “for the healing of the nations” and “for medicine”, rather than wounding the nations. (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18; Rev. 22:2; Ezek. 47:12) This is the “surpassing way” of love, the love of God with all that a person has and the love of one’s neighbor as oneself.—1 Cor. 12:31–13:7, NW.

25. In what respects, then, are Jehovah’s witnesses proved consistent?

²⁵ All the foregoing is only a partial statement of the case of Jehovah’s witnesses, which they have made to boards, officials and courts having the responsibility under the law of the land to determine whether they shall be granted the rights given to conscientious objectors and ministers. But enough has been said to prove to such boards and officials and all others that Jehovah’s witnesses are consistent in their claim. They are not pacifists, but are ministers and conscientious objectors on Scriptural grounds. In taking this stand the boards have been enabled to see that Jehovah’s witnesses stay neutral toward this world and that they remain God’s ministers and ordained preachers of the good news of his kingdom under Christ, with Scriptural and conscientious objection to their participation in worldly war in any form.

John the Baptist, Forerunner of Jesus

THE accurate Foreteller of events, Almighty God, declared over four hundred years before the birth of John the Baptist: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.” (Mal. 4:5, AS; Luke 1:17) And before that, more than 700 years prior to John’s birth, Jehovah announced that this Elijahlike one would be as “the voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God”. (Isa. 40:3, AS; Matt. 3:3) It was therefore no mere accident, or according to natural processes, that John the Baptist was born some six months prior to Jesus. In fact, John’s birth was as miraculous as that of the promised child Isaac, for both his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were past the normal age of producing children.—Luke 1:18.