TRUE CHRISTIANS STUMBLE BUT PREVAIL

3, 4. Who are those “acting wickedly against the covenant,” and what relationship have they had with the king of the north?

³ “Those who are acting wickedly against the covenant,” said God’s angel, “he [the king of the north] will lead into apostasy by means of smooth words.” The angel added: “But as regards the people who are knowing their God, they will prevail and act effectively. And as regards those having insight among the people, they will impart understanding to the many. And they will certainly be made to stumble by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plundering, for some days.”—Daniel 11:32, 33.

5, 6. Who were ‘the people knowing their God,’ and how did they fare under the king of the north?

⁵ What of genuine Christians—“the people who are knowing their God” and “those having insight”? Although they were properly “in subjection to the superior authorities,” Christians living under the rulership of the king of the north were not a part of this world. (Romans 13:1; John 18:36) Careful to pay back “Caesar’s things to Caesar,” they also gave “God’s things to God.” (Matthew 22:21) Because of this, their integrity was challenged.—2 Timothy 3:12.

⁶ As a result, true Christians both ‘stumbled’ and ‘prevailed.’ They stumbled in that they suffered intense persecution, some even being killed. But they prevailed in that the vast majority remained faithful. They conquered the world, just as Jesus did. (John 16:33) Moreover, they never stopped preaching, even if they found themselves in prison or in concentration camps. In so doing, they ‘imparted understanding to the many.’ Despite persecution in most lands ruled over by the king of the north, the number of Jehovah’s Witnesses increased. Thanks to the faithfulness of “those having insight,” an ever-expanding part of the “great crowd” has appeared in those lands.—Revelation 7:9-14.

JEHOVAH’S PEOPLE ARE REFINED

7. What “little help” did the anointed Christians living under the king of the north receive?

⁷ “When they [God’s people] are made to stumble they will be helped with a little help,” said the angel. (Daniel 11:34a) The triumph of the king of the south in the second world war had resulted in some relief for Christians living under the rival king. (Compare Revelation 12:15, 16.) Similarly, those who were persecuted by the successor king experienced relief from time to time. As the Cold War wound down, many leaders came to realize that faithful Christians are no threat and thus granted them legal recognition. Help came, too, from the swelling numbers of the great crowd, who responded to the faithful preaching of the anointed ones and helped them.—Matthew 25:34-40.

8. How did some join themselves to God’s people “by means of smoothness”?

⁸ Not all who professed to have an interest in serving God during the Cold War years had good motives. The angel had warned: “Many will certainly join themselves to them by means of smoothness.” (Daniel 11:34b) A considerable number showed an interest in the truth but were not willing to make a dedication to God. Yet others who seemed to accept the good news were really spies for the authorities. A report from one land reads: “Some of these unscrupulous characters were avowed Communists who had crept into the Lord’s organization, made a great display of zeal, and had even been appointed to high positions of service.”

9. Why did Jehovah allow some faithful Christians “to stumble” because of infiltrators?

⁹ The angel continued: “And some of those having insight will be made to stumble, in order to do a refining work because of them and to do a cleansing and to do a whitening, until the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.” (Daniel 11:35) The infiltrators caused some faithful ones to fall into the hands of the authorities. Jehovah allowed such things to happen for a refining and a cleansing of his people. Just as Jesus “learned obedience from the things he suffered,” so these faithful ones learned endurance from the testing of their faith. (Hebrews 5:8; James 1:2, 3; compare Malachi 3:3.) They are thus ‘refined, cleansed, and whitened.’

10. What is meant by the expression “until the time of the end”?

¹⁰ Jehovah’s people were to experience stumbling and refining “until the time of the end.” Of course, they expect to be persecuted until the end of this wicked system of things. However, the cleansing and whitening of God’s people as a result of the intrusion from the king of the north was “for the time appointed.” Hence, at Daniel 11:35, “the time of the end” must relate to the end of the period of time needed for God’s people to be refined while enduring the assault of the king of the north. The stumbling evidently ended at the time appointed by Jehovah.