Pagină:Obadiah-part-I-1936.djvu/7

Jtnc 15, 1956 who is Edom.’’ (Gen. 36:1) The name means ‘‘red”’ and is a reminder of Esau’s failure to appreciate God’s favor toward him concerning the Abrahamie birthright, which Esau sold for the paltry sum of a mess of pottage, that his selfish appctite might be appeased, ‘‘And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called dom [that is to say, ted (margin)].’’? (Gen. 25:30) In this prophecy of Obadiah the term Edom must of necessity apply first to the offspring of Esau, together with the country or place which they inhabited, and in fulfillment thereof to a people onec in line for the Abrahamic birthright. 31 Unlike Jacob’s deseendants, the offspring of Esau or Edom was not pure Semitie stock, for the reason that Esau married outside of Abraham’s family rela- tion. Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan, the cursed one. (Cleon. 9:25) ‘Esau took his wives of the dauehters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Klon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Aibeon the Hivite; and Bashemath, Jshmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.’? (Gen, 26:2,3) Ishimacl was a son of Abraham by Jlaear, an Heyptian woman, and was therefore a descendant of Ham. (Gen. 16:1) Ishmacl’s daughter Bashemath was one of the wives of Hsau. ‘And Ishmael too’ his wife out of the land of Egypt.’ (Cien. 21:21) All of Esan’s children were of a mixed blood, and therefore all Edomites were children of an improper union of Esau with Hamitie women. Jt was therefore impossi- ble for the Edomites to be God’s holy nation, sau was a brother of Jacob, a grandson of Abraham, ‘The father and mother of Jacob and Hsau were Isaae and Rebeeea. Esau was the firstborn and apparently had the first claim to the Abrahamie birthright, but it was the will of God that it shovld be otherwise. (Cen. 22:18; 25; 23-26) The deseendants of Esau, that is, the Edomites, must therefore represent a class of per- vons who are apparently the firstborn and in line for the kingdom. 22 The following definition is published in the book Government, page 283: “The name Edom represents that which is opposed to the Lord. It has the same meaning as ‘sau’, and therefore refers to the organi- zation of Satan, tue most reprehensible element of which is ecelesiasticism.’’? Here enlarging upon that definition, that it may be made more spceifie, it is stated that Esau or Edom more specifically stands for and represents that class of men who have organized and earried on religion in the name of God and Christ, but who in truth and in fact have been and are the representatives of the Devil, and henee a part of the Devil's organization. That clearly shows that anti- typical Edomites are made up of the Roman Catholie Hicrarchy and their clergy allies who have used the Word of God for a selfish purpose. The miniature or first fulfillment of this part of the prophecy of Obadiah was in the clergy of the time when Jesus was on the She WATCHTOWER. 183 earth. The priests and Pharisees of that time claimed to be children of Abraham, and hence in line for the kingdom blissings that were promised to Abraham, but Jesus told them that they were the sons of the Devil. (John 8:18, 37-44) Those hypocritical men were the ones who rejected the Stone, Christ Jesus, upon which God has builded his church, and to whom Christ Jesus said: ‘‘Thercefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder, And when the chief priests and Pharisces had heard his parables, they perecived that he spake of them.’’ (Matt. 21:43-45) The counterpart of the priests and Pharisees of that day are the clergy of the present time, and particularly the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. 23 dom, the offspring of Esau, therefore clearly stands for the ofiicial religious representatives of the Devil, to wit, the Roman Catholie Ifierarchy and their allies, the other clergy, Today Protestantism is dead; which was pictured by the young lion slain by Samson. Those clergymen who organized and carried on the so-called ‘‘Protestant religion’? are joined togethcr with the Roman Catholic Uierarchy ; and it has been true since the World War, at which time and sinee this combined erowd has soueht the death of the true followers of Christ Jesus. The clergy of the Catholic and so-called ‘‘Protestant’’ organizations are vigorous- ly working together at this dav to destroy the true followers of the Lord. As the Edomites sought to hill Jesus when he was on the earth (John 8: 87-44), so the modern-day Mdomites seek to bring about the death of the members of Christ now on the carth, and therefore they ‘thus do unto the Lord Jesus himself’ in this day ; and beeause these are his faithful followers he counts them as a part of himself. While this article is being prepared the clergy of the Roman Catholic Hicrarehy, and the so-called ‘‘Protestant’’ clergy, are attempting to frame mischief by law by causing bills to be introduced in the New Jersecy Legislature, and in other state legislatures, making it a crime for any- one to refuse to salute the flag or ‘to write or publish anything setting forth the reason why a Christian cannot salute a flag and thereby attribute salvation to men, Otherwise stated, the clergy seek the de- struction of Jehovah’s witnesses beeause they insist that a true follower of Christ Jesus must obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29) The elergy are the antitypical Edomites and are the most deceptive and reprehensible part of Satan's visible organization, 24 The Abrahamie birthright privileces were claimed by the clergy because they have ulways claimed to be the ones favored of God. Jehovah foreknew that they would be unfaithful and would fall away completely to the Devil, and therefore he foretold such in this prophecy concerning the Edomites. The Abrahamic