Why Is It Time to Decide?

IN THE 16th century B.C.E., God chose the Israelites as his “special property out of all other peoples, . . . a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5, 6) They soon lost their holiness, their religious purity, allowing themselves to be contaminated by the idolatry and corrupt practices of neighboring nations. They thus revealed themselves to be “a stiff-necked people.” (Deuteronomy 9:6, 13; 10:16; 1 Corinthians 10:7-11) During a period of more than three hundred years following the death of Joshua, Jehovah raised up judges, faithful guides who should have led the Israelites back to true worship. The people, however, “did not refrain from their practices and their stubborn behavior.”​—Judges 2:17-19.

After that, God raised up faithful kings and prophets to induce the people to return to true worship. The prophet Azariah encouraged King Asa and his fellow countrymen to search for Jehovah: “If you search for him, he will let himself be found by you, but if you leave him he will leave you.” Asa implemented religious reform in the kingdom of Judah. (2 Chronicles 15:1-16) Subsequently, God had to renew the invitation through his prophet Joel. (Joel 2:12, 13) Later still, Zephaniah exhorted the inhabitants of Judah to “seek Jehovah.” Young king Josiah did so in a campaign of reforms to eliminate idolatry and corruption.​—Zephaniah 2:3; 2 Chronicles 34:3-7.

Despite such episodes of repentance, the religious condition of the people was becoming more and more critical. (Jeremiah 2:13; 44:4, 5) Jeremiah denounced the religious system contaminated with idolatrous practices, describing it as irreformable: “Can a Cushite change his skin? or a leopard its spots? You yourselves would also be able to do good, who are persons taught to do bad.” (Jeremiah 13:23) For this reason, God inflicted a grave punishment on the kingdom of Judah. Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed in 607 B.C.E., and the survivors were deported as slaves to Babylon, where they remained for 70 years.

When that period of time was over, God showed mercy. He induced King Cyrus to free the Israelites, a remnant of whom returned to Jerusalem to reconstruct the temple. Instead of learning a lesson from all of this, they deviated from true worship once again, causing Jehovah God to renew his invitation: “Return to me, and I will return to you.”​—Malachi 3:7.

Why Israel Was Rejected

What was the religious condition of the Israelites in Jesus’ time? The hypocritical religious leaders were “blind guides” teaching “commands of men as doctrines.” ‘They were overstepping the commandment of God because of their tradition.’ The people honored God “with their lips,” but their heart was far removed from him. (Matthew 15:3, 4, 8, 9, 14) Were they as a nation to receive yet another opportunity to repent? No. Jesus said: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits.” He further said: “Your house,” the temple in Jerusalem, “is abandoned to you.” (Matthew 21:43; 23:38) Their error was too great. They rejected Jesus as Messiah and had him put to death, choosing the oppressive Roman Caesar as their king.​—Matthew 27:25; John 19:15.

The Israelites did not want to understand that the period in which Jesus carried out his ministry was a time of judgment. To the unfaithful inhabitants of Jerusalem, Jesus said: “You did not discern the time of your being inspected.”​—Luke 19:44.

At Pentecost 33 C.E., God formed a new nation, or people, the spirit-anointed disciples of his Son, Jesus Christ, who would be chosen out of every race and nation. (Acts 10:34, 35; 15:14) Was there any hope that the Jewish religious system would finally be reformed? The Roman legions provided the answer in 70 C.E., razing Jerusalem to the ground. God had totally rejected that religious system.​—Luke 21:5, 6.

Christendom’s Great Apostasy

Spirit-anointed Christians also formed “a holy nation, a people for special possession.” (1 Peter 2:9; Galatians 6:16) But not even the primitive Christian congregation preserved its religious purity for very long.

The Scriptures foretold a great apostasy, or falling away from the true faith. The symbolic weeds of Jesus’ parable, that is, counterfeit Christians, would try to choke out the symbolic wheat, or true Christians, those anointed with God’s spirit. The parable reveals that the spread of false Christianity, promoted by God’s archenemy, the Devil, was about to begin, “while men were sleeping.” This took place after the death of Christ’s faithful apostles, during a period of consequent spiritual drowsiness. (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8) As foretold by the apostles, many counterfeit Christians wormed their way into the fold. (Acts 20:29, 30; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; 2 Peter 2:1-3) John was the last of the apostles to die. In about the year 98 C.E., he wrote that “the last hour,” the final part of the apostolic period, had already commenced.​—1 John 2:18, 19.

With the alliance of religion and political power sealed by Roman emperor Constantine, the spiritual, doctrinal, and moral condition of Christendom plummeted. Many historians agree that “the triumph of the Church during the fourth century” was, from the Christian point of view, “a disaster.” ‘Christendom lost her high moral level’ and accepted many practices and philosophies from paganism, such as “the cult of Mary” and the adoration of the “saints,” as well as the concept of the Trinity.

After her false triumph, the condition of Christendom deteriorated. Decrees and doctrinal definitions by popes and councils, not to mention the Inquisition, Crusades, and “holy” wars between Catholics and Protestants, produced an irreformable religious system.

In his book A World Lit Only by Fire, William Manchester writes: “The popes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries lived like Roman emperors. They were the wealthiest men in the world, and they and their cardinals further enriched themselves by selling holy offices.” During the great apostasy, small groups or single individuals sought to rediscover true Christianity, displaying the characteristics of the symbolic wheat. They often paid a high price. The same book says: “At times it seemed that the true saints of Christianity, Protestant and Catholic alike, had become blackened martyrs enveloped in flames.” Others, so-called Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin, managed to create enduring religious systems that were separate from the Catholic Church but that still shared its basic doctrines. They were also deeply involved in political affairs.

In the Protestant field, efforts were made to effect a so-called religious reawakening. During the 18th and 19th centuries, for example, these efforts resulted in vigorous foreign missionary activity. However, by the admission of the shepherds themselves, today the spiritual condition of the Protestant flock is far from encouraging. The Protestant theologian Oscar Cullmann recently admitted that “within the churches themselves, there is a crisis of faith.”

Reforms and counterreforms have also been promoted within the Catholic Church. From the 11th to the 13th century, in the face of the widespread corruption and immense wealth of the clergy, monastic orders that strictly followed the vow of poverty were formed. But they were watched closely and, according to scholars, were suppressed by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Then came the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, promoted by the Council of Trent and largely directed at combating the Protestant Reformation.

In the first half of the 19th century, during the period of ecclesiastical restoration, the Catholic Church assumed an authoritarian and conservative stance. It cannot be said, though, that any real reforms were made to restore true Christianity. Rather, these were mere efforts to consolidate the clergy’s authority in the face of world religious, political, and social change.

More recently, in the 1960’s, it seemed that the Catholic Church wanted to launch a process of profound change with the ecumenical council Vatican II. However, an abrupt halt to the so-called conciliar renewal was imposed by the current pope to restrain the spirit of progressive members of the church. This phase, which some call the restoration of Wojtyła, has been defined by one Catholic group as “a new form of Constantinism.” As pointed out in the Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, the Catholic Church, like other religions, is facing “a radical and global crisis: radical because it involves the very roots of faith and Christian life; global because it involves all facets of Christianity.”

Christendom’s religions have not really undergone a process of reformation, nor could they, since true Christianity was only to be restored at the time of the “harvest,” with the gathering of the symbolic wheat into one pure congregation. (Matthew 13:30, 39) The long list of crimes and misdeeds perpetrated in the name of religion, whether claiming to be Christian or not, prompts the question, Is it realistic to expect true reform from Christendom?

Reform Impossible?

The book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, speaks of a symbolic great harlot bearing the mysterious name “Babylon the Great.” (Revelation 17:1, 5) For centuries Bible readers have sought to explain the mystery of this symbol. Many were disgusted by the wealth and corruption of the clergy. Some thought that Babylon the Great represented the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Among them were Jan Hus, a Bohemian Catholic priest burned alive in 1415, and Aonio Paleario, an Italian humanist who was hanged and burned in 1570. Both strove without success to reform the Catholic Church in the hope that it would return to “its primitive dignity.”

In contrast, chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation indicate that Babylon the Great represents the world empire of all false religion.a This composite “great harlot” is irreformable because “her sins have massed together clear up to heaven.” In fact, in this 20th century, virtually all religions, not just those of Christendom, share responsibility for wars that continue to spill much blood and for the severe moral degradation that afflicts mankind. Consequently, God has decreed “Babylon’s” destruction.​—Revelation 18:5, 8.

Now Is the Time to “Get Out of Her”

Fulfillment of Bible prophecies reveals that our day corresponds to “the conclusion” of this wicked “system of things.” (Matthew 24:3) Anyone who sincerely wants to worship God cannot afford to follow his own ideas and preferences. He must ‘search for Jehovah while he may be found,’ yes, right now, because the “great tribulation” foretold by Jesus is at hand. (Isaiah 55:6; Matthew 24:21) As was true in the case of the people of Israel, God will not tolerate a religion’s corruption just because it boasts of its antiquity. Rather than strive to repair a ship that is destined to sink, all those who desire God’s approval and salvation must without delay obey the inspired command of Revelation 18:4: “Get out of [Babylon the Great], my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.”

But “get out” to go where? Where else is salvation to be found? Is there not the danger of seeking refuge in the wrong place? How can the only religion that has God’s approval be identified? The only trustworthy answers can be found in the Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) Jehovah’s Witnesses invite you to examine the Bible more closely. You will be able to understand who are the ones that God has chosen as “a people for his name,” whom he will protect during the impending day of his anger.​—Acts 15:14; Zephaniah 2:3; Revelation 16:14-16.

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If your religious ship is sinking, turn to the rescue ship of true Christianity