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“*Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and
ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. There-
fore thus saith the Lord God, Your slain whom ye
have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and
this city is the caldron; but I will bring you forth
out of the midst of it. Ye have feared the sword;
and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord
God. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof,
and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will
execute judgments among you. Ye shal] fall by the
sword ; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and
ye shall know that I am the Lord. This city shall not
be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the
midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of
Israel.’’—Ezek, 11: 6-11.
The chief ones, the princes and the rulers of the
people in ‘‘Christendom’’, have feared the sword them-
selves, and when trouble came on them they put them-
selves in a place of safety and shoved ‘‘the common
herd’’ into front lines to be slain. But now Jehovah
declares that he will reverse the order and that the
prinees and rulers and chief ones shall fall by the
sword which he, Jehovah, will wield. In corrobora-
tion of this he caused Jeremiah the prophet to say:
‘‘Howl, ye shepherds, and ery; and wallow your-
selves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the
days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are
accomplished ; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the
principal of the flock to escape.’’—Jer. 25: 34, 35.
The leaders and principal ones of ‘‘Christendom”’
are without excuse for their course of action. The
Israelites were God’s chosen people and should have
walked in his statutes, but they did like as the hea-
then nations. The nations that make no pretense of
“‘Christianity’’ practice the Devil religion. The lead-
ers and principal ones in ‘‘Christendom’”’ claim to be
the children of God and his covenant people, but they
ignore his statutes and do after the manner of hea-
then nations, to wit, practice Devil religion. They
exalt creatures, exalt themselves, and use their power
to oppress the poor; and God declares he will visit
his righteous indignation upon them, and that he will
do so that all may know that Jchovah is God, that
his name may be vindicated.—Ezek. 11:11, 12.
In the day of the prophet, as one of these principal
ones died, Ezekiel fell down upon his face and cried
out and said: ‘‘Ah, Lord God! wilt thou make a full
end of the remnant of Israel?’’ (Ezck. 11:13) This
was not a ery for pity, but rather to call forth an
expression of God’s righteous indignation, showing
that the judgment falling upon them is just and
right. Jehovah then calls attention to the greed and
arrogance practiced by the principal ones, and the
oppression that they bring upon the poor. ‘‘Son of
man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy
kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they
unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said,
¢he WATCHTOWER.
Broortyn, N. ¥.
Get you far from the Lord; unto us is this land given
in possession.’’—Ezek. 11; 15.
It is even so in this day, when the principal ones
of ‘‘Christendom’’ say by their words and by their
acts: ‘The earth belongs to us, and we will do with it
as we please. We will crowd the common herd into
the tenement houses and make the tillers of the soil
serfs, and we will live in ease.’ Jehovah, therefore,
says concerning them: ‘The men of thy kindred
{those in the churches who are meek and fearful,
and who are held as prisoners, and upon whom the
principal of the flock look with contempt] are they
unto whom the [principal of the flock] have said
{and say], Get you far from the Lord [that is, you
are not in his favor; we are his favorites]; unto us
is this land given in possession [we are the ones that
have the whole thing].’ Jehovah brings upon these
wicked oppressors destruction, even as the prophet
Ezekiel saw in vision and prophesied.
Then Jehovah speaks words of consolation to the
common people, which strongly supports the conelu-
sion that among those who have been pushed aside
and oppressed by the princes and rulers of ‘‘Chris-
tendom’”’ there will be and are millions who will be
favored by Jehovah, and who will hear the truth,
turn to Jehovah and receive his favor, and never die.
Under the Messianic kingdom they shall be made clean
of heart and mind and shall dwell safely in the land.
(See Ezekiel 11: 16-21.) God will spare those who
turn their hearts to him and seek righteousness, and
will bring them through the time of trouble. Such
are the meek and teachable ones, and these shall have
his blessing. ‘‘Seek meekness, seek righteousness: it
may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”’
—Zeph. 2:3.
The Mount of Olives lies just east of the city of
Jerusalem, and it fitly symbolizes God’s kingdom of
peace and blessings. With the destruction of Satan’s
organization, then Jehovah’s kingdom shall bring
peace and blessings to the peoples of earth, even as
Jehovah has promised. Izekiel had a vision of this,
and wrote: ‘‘ And the glory of the Lord went up from
the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain
which is on the east side of the city.’’ (Ezek. 11:23)
Supporting this, another prophet wrote describing the
battle at Armageddon, and then adds: ‘‘ And his feet
shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on the east.’’ (Zech. 14: 4)
Then there shall be established on earth peace to-
ward men of good will; and this will be done by and
through the authority of God’s kingdom,
In verses twenty-four and twenty-five of the elev-
enth chapter of Ezckiel the prophet tells of being taken
back by the spirit of Jehovah to the locality of the
captives in Babylon and of speaking to the captives,
telling them of the things which Jehovah had shown
him. This clearly means that the ‘‘prisoners’’ in
- Christendom’’, and therefore those in ‘‘captivity’’
