18. How will God judge religions that claim to serve him but that do not conform to his laws?

¹⁸ Those religious leaders in the first century did not trust God. Instead, they put their trust in traditions that violated God’s laws. (Matthew 15:3, 9) So Jesus told them: “Your house is abandoned to you.” (Matthew 23:38) As evidence that God had indeed abandoned their Jewish religion, in the year 70 of our Common Era they, their national capital, Jerusalem, and their temple were devastated by Roman armies.

1, 2. (a) What happened to those who did not trust in Jehovah in the first century, and to those who did? (b) What questions may be asked about religion in our time?

IN THE first century of our Common Era, the Jewish religious leaders claimed to worship God. But they did not trust in him. They broke his commandments and persecuted his representatives. (Matthew 15:3; John 15:20) As a result, ‘their house was abandoned’ by Jehovah. (Matthew 23:38) In 70 C.E., Roman armies devastated Jerusalem and its temple, with great loss of life to the religious leaders and their followers.