at Endor; they became manure for the ground.”—Ps. 83:9, 10, 18; Jer. 25:33.

Since the one successfully fighting the battle at Armageddon for Jehovah and his name will be Jesus Christ, together with his heavenly hosts, it follows that Barak pictures Jesus Christ. (Rev. 2:27; 19:11-21) King Jabin of Canaan, chief oppressor of Israel, would well picture Satan the Devil, the chief oppressor of God’s people, while his agents on earth that do his bidding would well be pictured by General Sisera. What about Jael? Whom does she picture?

Not being of the nation of Israel, she would picture someone else than the spiritual Israelites. Logically she would picture the “great crowd” that the apostle John saw after he had seen the 144,000 of spiritual Israel, and which crowd came out of all nations, peoples and languages. These share in praising Jehovah God and show their loyalty to the greater Barak, Jesus Christ, and to spiritual Israel by treating Satan’s agents as dead.—Rev. 7:9-17.b

Truly, what was written aforetime does serve to strengthen our faith, encouraging us and throwing light on our pathway!—Ps. 119:105.

“Abba, Father”

● The Gospel writer Mark records that Jesus Christ used the term “Abba” when praying to Jehovah God in Gethsemane shortly before his death, saying: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36) Here is the fervent appeal of a son to a beloved Father, followed quickly by an assurance that, in any event, he would remain obedient. The word abba in Aramaic means “father” and corresponds to the Hebrew ab (father) but is the emphatic form of Ab. It was the intimate name used by children for their fathers and combines some of the intimacy of the English word “papa” while retaining the dignity of the word “father,” being both informal and yet respectful. It was therefore a more endearing form of address than a title and was among the first words a child learned to speak. Two other occurrences of the use of the word are in the apostle Paul’s letters, at Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. In both places the word is used in connection with Christians called to be spirit-begotten sons of God and indicates the intimacy of their relationship with their Father. While they are “slaves to God,” yet they are also sons in the house of a loving Father, and they are made positively aware of this status by holy spirit through their Lord Jesus.—Rom. 6:22; 8:15; Gal. 4:6.

A Portent

● In the Holy Scriptures, at 2 Kings 20:8-11 and Isaiah 38:4-8, there is related the account of the portent God gave sick King Hezekiah in answer to Isaiah’s prayer. It consisted of causing a shadow that had gradually fallen to reverse its direction and to go back up ten steps. Some say this refers to the steps or degrees of a dial for measuring time, and it is not impossible that Hezekiah’s father had obtained such a sundial from Babylon. since the use of sundials extends back beyond the eighth century B.C.E. in both Babylon and Egypt. However, the Jewish historian Josephus in discussing the account speaks of these steps of Ahaz as being “in his house,” apparently indicating that they formed part of a stairway. There may have been a column placed alongside the stairs to receive the sun’s rays and cause a shadow to extend gradually along the steps and serve as a measurement of time. The miracle performed evidently had far-reaching effects, inasmuch as 2 Chronicles 32:24, 31 shows that messengers were sent from Babylon to Jerusalem to inquire “about the portent that had happened in the land.” That portent was a guarantee to Hezekiah that he would revive from his sickness and that Jehovah would add fifteen years to his life, also that Jerusalem would be delivered out of the hand of the king of Assyria. It came to pass as it had been foretold.