¹⁶ However, Jehovah’s servants experience more than the ravages of war and criminal violence in general. They are also subjected to violence because they are no part of the world but endeavor to be people of godly devotion. (2 Timothy 3:10-12) Sometimes that violence simply takes the form of pushing or slapping; at other times it involves destruction of property, vicious beatings, and even killings.​—Matthew 24:9.

17. Is ungodliness rampant today? Explain.

¹⁷ While engaging in such violence, ungodly men have, at times, brazenly declared their contempt for God. In one area in Africa, the police declared: “The government is ours. You go to God, if there is one, and ask him to come and help you.” In prisons and concentration camps, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been confronted by men like Baranowsky, in Sachsenhausen, Germany, who taunted: “I have taken up a fight with Jehovah. We will see who is the stronger, I or Jehovah.” Shortly afterward, Baranowsky took ill and died; but others continue to manifest a similar attitude. Officials indulging in a crusade of persecution are not the only ones who display defiance of God. Around the world, servants of God hear and see things that give evidence that those who indulge in them have no fear of God in their hearts.

19. (a) Against whom in particular do the demons direct their hatred? (b) What are demons trying to force us to do?

¹⁹ The Bible reveals that the demons are waging war against those “who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.” (Revelation 12:12, 17) Those wicked spirits are the prime instigators of persecution of Jehovah’s servants. (Ephesians 6:10-13) They use every conceivable means to coerce or entice faithful humans to break integrity to Jehovah and to stop proclaiming Jehovah’s Kingdom with Jesus as the Messianic King.

20. How do the demons try to hinder people from breaking free from their control? (James 4:7)

²⁰ The demons strive to hinder people who long for relief from their oppressive influence. A former spiritist in Brazil reports that when the Witnesses called at her home, demon voices ordered her not to open the door; but she did, and she learned the truth. In many areas the demons directly employ practicers of witchcraft to try to stop the work of Jehovah’s Witnesses. For example, in a village in Suriname, opposers of Jehovah’s Witnesses contacted a spiritist who was well-known for being able to cause the sudden death of people simply by pointing his magic stick at them. With his entourage of dancers and drummers, the spiritist, possessed by a demon, confronted Jehovah’s Witnesses. He uttered his magic formulas and pointed his stick at them. The villagers expected the Witnesses to drop dead, but it was the spiritist who fainted and had to be whisked away by his embarrassed supporters.