land get agitated; for the day of Jehovah is coming, for it is near!”—Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2.

TIMES OF DESTRUCTIVE JUDGMENT

When, then, is this great and terrible day of Jehovah? From certain features of the prophecies, and in view of subsequent events, it appears that this same expression, the “day of Jehovah,” at least in a miniature way, referred to different times of destructive judgment that occurred long ago at the hands of the Most High. For example, Isaiah envisioned what would befall unfaithful Judah and Jerusalem on “the day belonging to Jehovah of armies” and which was coming “upon everyone self-exalted and lofty” among them. (Isa. 2:11-17) Ezekiel addressed himself to the unfaithful prophets of Israel, warning that they would in no way serve to fortify their cities “in order to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.” (Ezek. 13:5) By the mouth of his prophet Zephaniah, Jehovah foretold how he was about to stretch out his hand against Judah and Jerusalem, giving special attention so that not even the princes or the sons of the king would escape. (Zeph. 1:4-8) As the facts show, that “day of Jehovah” came upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E.

In that distressing time of trouble upon Judah and Jerusalem, her neighboring nations such as Edom showed their hatred for Jehovah and his people, causing the prophet Obadiah (vss. 1, 15) to prophesy against them: “For the day of Jehovah against all the nations is near. In the way that you have done, it will be done to you.” Similarly, the “day of Jehovah” and all the fiery destruction embraced within that expression also befell Babylon and Egypt just as foretold.—Isa. 13:1, 6; Jer. 46:1, 2, 10.

Later, through the prophet Malachi, another “great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah” was foretold, and it was said that it would be preceded by the coming of “Elijah the prophet.” (Mal. 4:5, 6) The original Elijah had lived nearly 500 years before that prophecy was uttered, but in the first century C.E. Jesus indicated that John the Baptist was the foretold counterpart of Elijah. (Matt. 11:12-14; Mark 9:11-13) So at that time a “day of Jehovah” was near at hand. At Pentecost of 33 C.E. Peter explained that they were experiencing the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (2:28-32) concerning the outpouring of God’s spirit, and this too was due to happen before the “great and illustrious day of Jehovah.” (Acts 2:16-21) That “day of Jehovah” came in 70 C.E., when, in fulfillment of his Word, Jehovah caused the armies of Rome to execute divine judgment upon the nation that had rejected the Son of God and defiantly shouted: “We have no king but Caesar.”—John 19:15; Dan. 9:24-27.

However, the Scriptures point forward to yet another “day of Jehovah.” After the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile, Jehovah caused his prophet Zechariah (14:1-3) to foretell “a day . . . belonging to Jehovah” when he would gather, not merely one nation, but “all the nations against Jerusalem,” and at the climax of which “Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations,” bringing them to their end. The apostle Paul, under inspiration, associated the coming “day of Jehovah” with the second presence of Christ. (2 Thess. 2:1, 2) And Peter spoke of it in connection with the establishment of ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness is to dwell.’—2 Pet. 3:10-13.

Security and safety during the great day of Jehovah should concern everyone. After asking, “Who can hold up under it?” Joel says, “Jehovah will be a refuge for his people.” (Joel 2:11; 3:16) The invitation is graciously extended to all, but few avail themselves of this provision of refuge by following Zephaniah’s counsel: “Before the statute gives birth to anything, before the day has passed by just like chaff, before there comes upon you people the burning anger of Jehovah, before there comes upon you the day of Jehovah’s anger, seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.”—Zeph. 2:2, 3.

DEAD SEA

See SALT SEA.

DEAFNESS

Partial or complete inability to hear, often caused by disease, accident or loud noise, either intense and sudden or prolonged. In some cases persons are born deaf. Another cause of deafness mentioned in the Bible is demon-possession.—Mark 9:25-29.

Jehovah, the Creator of the ear (Prov. 20:12), required his people to show consideration for the deaf. The Israelites were not to ridicule or call down evil upon deaf persons, for the deaf could not defend themselves against statements they could not hear.—Lev. 19:14; compare Psalm 38:13, 14.

Obviously, then, Jehovah’s words at Exodus 4:11, where he refers to himself as ‘appointing the deaf,’ do not mean that he is responsible for all cases of deafness. However, Jehovah can cause a person to become literally deaf, dumb or blind for a particular reason or purpose. The father of John the Baptist was temporarily made dumb because of not believing. (Luke 1:18-22, 62-64) Also, because of violating God’s law, as in the case of sex relations, for instance, a person may, by contracting a venereal disease, become deaf. Thus indirectly Jehovah may be viewed as the source of the deafness. God can also “appoint” persons to be spiritually deaf by allowing them to remain in that state if they so choose.—Compare Isaiah 6:9, 10.

Jesus Christ, during his ministry, demonstrated miraculous curative powers by restoring the hearing of physically deaf individuals on several occasions. (Matt. 11:5; Mark 7:32-37; Luke 7:22) This makes certain that under his rulership over the earth all afflictions, including deafness, will be eliminated.

The Bible also refers to figurative or spiritual deafness. The psalmist compared the wicked who refuse to listen to direction to a cobra that makes itself deaf to the voice of charmers. (Ps. 58:3-5) Similarly, in Isaiah’s day, the Israelites, although having ears, were as though deaf because of being slow to listen and respond to Jehovah’s word. (Isa. 42:18-20; 43:8) However, after the foretold restoration from captivity, God’s people would cease to be deaf spiritually. They would hear the word of Jehovah, that is, pay attention to it. (Isa. 29:18; 35:5) Jesus Christ, while on earth, opened many ears of understanding, enabling the cured ones to act upon what they heard.—Matt. 13:16, 23.

DEATH

The cessation of all functions of life, hence, the opposite of life. (Deut. 30:15, 19) In the Bible the same original-language words for ‘death’ or ‘dying’ are applied to humans, animals and plants. (Eccl. 3:19; 9:5; John 12:24; Jude 12; Rev. 16:3) However, for humans and animals the Bible shows the vital function of the blood in maintaining life, stating that the “soul of the flesh is in the blood.” (Lev. 17:11, 14; Gen. 4:8-11; 9:3, 4) Both humans and animals are spoken of as ‘expiring,’ that is, ‘breathing out’ the breath of life (Heb., n^esha·mahʹ). (Gen. 7:21, 22; compare Genesis 2:7.) And the Scriptures show that death in humans and animals follows the loss of the “force of life” or “spirit” (Heb., ru’ahh; Gr., pneu’ma).—Gen. 6:17; 7:15, 22; Eccl. 3:19; see SPIRIT.

It is of interest to note the correspondency of these Biblical points with what is known scientifically of the death process. In humans, for example, when the heart stops beating, the blood ceases to circulate the nourishment and the oxygen (obtained by breathing) to the billions of body cells. However, as is pointed out in The World Book Encyclopedia (1966