June 15, 1938
or foreign laborers, That seems to clearly correspond
with the Jonadabs or non-anointed ones’ participating
in the service work. The Seriptural evidence may here
be considered with interest and profit: ‘‘And king
Solomon sent, and fetched Hiram [this was not king
Hiram, but the son of a widow (see margin)] out of
Tyre. He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali,
and his father was a man of Tyre [was a foreigner],
a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom and
understanding and cunning to work all works in brass.
And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his
work,’’—1 Ki. 7:13, 14; 2 Chron. 2:13, 14.
- King Hiram sent his servants to work for Solo-
mon. ‘‘ And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father; for Hiram was ever a lover of David.’’ ‘‘And the Lord gave Solo- mon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.’’ ‘‘And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stone- squarers ; so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.’’ (1 Ki. 5:1,12,18; 2 Chron. 2: 8-10) Other strangers or proselytes of Israel were brought into service: ‘‘And Solomon numbered all the stran- gers that were in the land of Israel, after the num- bering wherewith David his father had numbered them [showing that those outside of the land of Israel were unnumbered]; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hun- dred. And he set threescore and ten thousand [seventy thousand] of them [strangers or proselytes] to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand [eighty thousand] to be hewers in the mountain [of Lebanon], and three thousand and six hundred [3,600] over- seers to set the people a work.’’ (2 Chron. 2:17, 18) This corresponds with extending to the ‘‘great mul- titude’’, or Jonadabs, a part in the witness work of the present time.—Rev. 22:17. %5 Some other interesting facts are these: Solomon began building the temple 480 years after the exodus from Egypt. (1 Ki, 6:1) Hence the twenty-year build- ing program of Solomon ended 500 years after the exodus. Five hundred years before 1938 or, to wit, 1438, there were movements for the release of the peo- ple from religious bondage under the Papacy. In the thirty-first session of the Council of Basle, Switzer- land, in that year the Council declared Pope Eu- genius IV contumacious, suspended him from the ex- ercise of all jurisdiction, both temporal and spiritual, and pronounced all that he should do to be null and void, (McClintock and Strong Cyclopadia, Volume 1, page 689) The Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 5, ninth edition, page 731, says: ‘In the year 1438, Council of Ferrara [an Italian city], convoked by Eugenius IV, opposed the Council of Basle; the Em- peror John Palaeologus [of the Eastern or Greek Em- pire] and the Greek Patriarch were present. The pope fhe WATCHTOWER. 187 was deposed by the fathers of Basle, and the latter were excommunicated at Ferrara.’ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 10, page 572, tells of the contin- uous controversy between the pope and the Council of Basle. 56 The Scriptures show that, after the twenty years of Solomon’s building program as above set out, he engaged in a nation-wide building program. (1 Ki. 9:10, 1/-23; 2 Chron. 8:1-10) Then came the queen of Sheba ‘‘from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon’’. (Matt. 12:42; 1 Ki. 10: 1-10; 2 Chron. 9:1-9,12) This suggests the ques- tion: What is in the immediate future for the people of Jehovah on earth? With full confidence we will wait, and we shall see. 57 By way of contrast or comparison we now see that Jehovah has brought in a better condition amongst his people than has heretofore been enjoyed. He has illuminated his prophecy concerning the government of his people. As gold is better than brcenze, and silver better than iron, and bronze better than wood, and iron better than stone, so instead of controversies, contentions and arguments usually prevailing at the time of the exercise of the demoeratic method of se- lecting servants, now Jehovah, through Christ Jesus, appoints for service in his organization his ‘‘exactors’’, that is, overseers, officers or servants, for peace, pros- perity and righteousness, and all must dwell together and work together in peace and in harmony. Instead of rivalry in the selection of servants, and instead of a rule by bosses or self-exalted ones, Christ Jesus now rules as the special representative of the great Theocrat, Jehovah, and his servants must all be in full harmony with him. Let all contentious persons and troublemakers beware. There is no room for such now in the organization of the Lord. Jehovah’s theo- eratic government is now in full control of the people of God, and to Jehovah’s great Prophet, King and Judge every knee shall bow and every tongue joy- fully confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, King and Ruler, to the glory of God His Father. (Phil. 2: 10, 11) All of the temple company are one in Christ Jesus, and ‘‘in his temple doth every one speak of his glory’’. The faithful servants of Jehovah are resting securely in the hand of the Almighty God, and concerning whom it is written: ‘‘Let the saints be joyful in glory ; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand.’’—Psalm 149: 5, 6. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY { 1,2. How do the facts concerning the temple and the temple judgment show Jehovah’s foreknowledge? Point out re- sults of the temple judgment. What vital question con- fronts each one for whom the increased light upon God’s Word is now available? How important is a wise decision and course of action in this regard? { 3,4. Of what is Isaiah 60:17 a prophetic description? An examination of various translations of this text brings added light on what points in particulart
