Pagină:Organization-part-I-1938.djvu/12: Diferență între versiuni

172 “*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’’