Do You Remember?

Have you read the recent issues of The Watchtower carefully? If so, you will doubtless recall these points:

● Why is the present strength of Christendom’s churches and other religious bodies no indication that Jehovah’s fiery day of judgment is far off?

The end of the religious systems making up “Babylon the Great” will come about suddenly while they are still functioning and outwardly powerful organizations. Revelation 17:16, 17 shows that God will put it into the heart of the political systems to destroy them.​—Pp. 53, 54.a

● What shows that Jesus’ words, “there will be great earthquakes,” have been fulfilled since 1914 C.E.?​—Luke 21:11.

The earthquakes since 1914 C.E. have been “great” in terms of power, lives lost and property damage. In fact, their destructiveness has been more widespread and greater than in the years prior to 1914 C.E., claiming approximately 30 percent of all persons killed in earthquakes during the last thousand-year period.​—Pp. 73, 74.

● What will a Christian overseer who is “lowly in heart” avoid when being given suggestions?

He will not incline to take the suggestions as a criticism of his motives or manner of handling matters but will give them consideration, realizing that he, too, can benefit from counsel.​—P. 104.

● How are we to understand the words of the disciple James that, in answer to prayers made in faith, ‘God gives generously to all and without reproaching’?​—Jas. 1:5.

God will not reproach us for our weakness or as being “stupid”; he gives generously, wholeheartedly, in a way that makes us happy that we asked.​—P. 138.

● To what extent can God’s servants expect his protection during the “great tribulation”?

They can be sure that not a single one of them will be swept away by mistake when Jesus Christ and his angelic forces take action against the wicked. Some may die as a result of the attack of the symbolic “Gog,” Satan the Devil, but as a class they will be delivered. (Ezek. 38:2) The strain of the conditions brought on by the “great tribulation” may lead to the death of some, but we will have to wait and see to what extent Jehovah God may shield and strengthen those having physical weaknesses. We are assured that a “great crowd” will survive.​—Pp. 171, 172.

● In what sense were the apostles a “theatrical spectacle”?​—1 Cor. 4:9.

Because of being reproached and persecuted they were as if exposed in a Roman theater before a universal audience.​—P. 215.

● What is the “place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon”?​—Rev. 16:16.

It is not a literal place but denotes a world situation that involves a decisive war. It denotes the stage in world hostility toward God that, when reached, requires the settling of the issue that has given rise to such hostility.​—P. 232.

Questions From Readers

● Is it proper for a Christian woman to have her earlobes pierced to accommodate earrings?​—B.C., Canada.

The Scriptures do not provide the information making possible a strict yes or no answer to this question. Whether one will have her earlobes pierced for this purpose is really a matter for personal decision.

We have the principle at Leviticus 19:28, which prohibited the making of cuts in one’s flesh for a deceased soul. This was a practice found among those holding false religious beliefs. Some may feel that this prohibition would apply in principle to other unnecessary cuttings.

One may also consider that when God designed human bodies initially he found his work “very good.” It follows that one would not want to deform or seriously disfigure one’s body.​—Gen. 1:27, 31.

On the other hand, the Bible does mention earrings (as well as nose rings) and there is no way today to know whether this use involved piercing the ears or not.​—Gen. 24:22, 47; Ex. 32:2; 35:22; Ezek. 16:12.

We may note, too, that the Law covenant provided for the piercing of the ear of a Hebrew slave who had fulfilled his required period of slavery and who wanted to remain a slave of a good master. (Ex. 21:2-6) The master was to pierce one of the slave’s earlobes with an awl as a sign of this. This, of course, was not simply for adornment as in the case of piercing ears for earrings, yet the effect on the person’s flesh was the same.

In viewing these various factors together it is apparent that no dogmatic answer can be given. Each Christian woman must exercise her personal conscience in the matter. Some, in applying the above principles, may not want to have their ears pierced; others may feel they can conscientiously do so. A married woman who favors having her ears pierced should rightly consult her husbandly head first. Similarly, a minor would take the matter up with her parents and abide by their decision, in harmony with Jehovah’s arrangement for the family.​—Col. 3:18, 20; Eph. 5:22–6:4.

As Christians we should also consider the feelings of others. We may remember the apostles’ counsel showing that the wearing of ornaments is not as important as adorning oneself “with modesty and soundness of mind” and “good works.”​—1 Pet. 3:3; 1 Tim. 2:9, 10.

● In the Bible, Exodus 4:11 reads: “Who appoints the speechless or the deaf or the clear-sighted or the blind? Is it not I, Jehovah?” Does this mean that God is responsible in every case for such defects as deafness and blindness?​—U.S.A.

No, as this would be out of harmony with God’s whole personality. The Bible tells us: “With evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone.” (Jas. 1:13) His acts are always purposeful. Never does he bring calamity upon a person without good reason. He is the source of “every good gift and every perfect present.” (Jas. 1:17) “Perfect is his activity, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice; righteous and upright is he.”​—Deut. 32:4.

In harmony with this, we see that it was by their own choice that the first human pair, Adam and Eve, lost their perfection and hence their ability to produce perfect children. (Job 14:4) As their descendants married, more and more imperfections began to be manifest among humans, including physical defects such as blindness and deafness. Because he has allowed this to develop, Jehovah God could speak of himself as ‘appointing’ the speechless, the deaf and the blind. (Compare Romans 8:20, 21.) Moreover, he fully understands such handicaps and their causes.

Also, Jehovah God has not shielded persons from the sad consequences that disobedience can bring on the physical organism. God’s unchangeable law is: “Whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) Thus children born of incestuous relationships may be born defective; they may be blind, deaf and otherwise handicapped from birth. Persons indulging in sexual immorality may contract a venereal disease leading to their becoming blind, deaf or even insane. The same might be true of children born to a woman infected with venereal disease.

When it is in agreement with his purpose and ways, Jehovah God can literally cause people to become blind, deaf or speechless. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is an example of this. When Zechariah expressed doubt upon learning that he would become father to a son by his aged wife Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel said to him: “You will be silent and not able to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their appointed time.” (Luke 1:20) Zechariah was then for a time made mute, not able to speak until the circumcising of his eight-day-old son.​—See also Acts 13:8-11.

Still another way in which God “appoints” the speechless, the deaf and the blind is in a spiritual sense. If people choose to be deaf and blind to his message, he permits them to persist in unbelief. This was the case with unfaithful Israel in the time of Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah was told: “Go, and you must say to this people, ‘Hear again and again, O men, but do not understand; and see again and again, but do not get any knowledge.’ Make the heart of this people