years, I have the spiritual strength to give back, in some small measure, what Jehovah asks of those he has blessed with his truths.

Some inquire how I have been able to endure the hard work of the past nearly five decades. The answer must come in the matter of motive and dedication. It was a matter of pleasing either myself or of pleasing Jehovah, as far as I was concerned. I felt that Jehovah had given me the truth in the first place, so he had the right to ask back certain things of me. If I accepted the truth, then I should be willing to give back what he asks. So my motive in life after dedication was to please Jehovah first, and I have tried to do this.

What has helped very much, too, is that I have reflected continually on Jehovah’s promises and have had complete faith in his Word that he would straighten out all of man’s affairs in his due time. With this full confidence I could endure in the work regardless of what was required, because I knew full well that in the end Jehovah would make everything work out for the best interests of his servants, including me. Yes, with a willing spirit, putting God and his requirements first, anyone can give back humbly what God asks of him.—Mic. 6:8.

Questions From Readers

● At 1 Corinthians 10:8 the apostle Paul said that 23,000 Israelites fell in one day for committing fornication. However, the figure given at Numbers 25:9 is 24,000. Were these two different incidents?—K. S., U.S.A.

Both texts apparently apply to the same incident. To the Corinthian Christians, who lived in a notoriously licentious city, the apostle Paul appropriately wrote at 1 Corinthians 10:8: “Neither let us practice fornication, as some of them [the Israelites in the wilderness] committed fornication, only to fall, twenty-three thousand of them in one day.” Evidently Paul was referring to the incident recorded in Numbers, chapter 25. At that time the Israelites suffered a scourge from Jehovah for having immoral relations with the daughters of Moab and for engaging in the false worship of the Baal of Peor. Numbers 25:9 reported the result, stating: “And those who died from the scourge amounted to twenty-four thousand.”

It is possible that the number of those slain was between 23,000 and 24,000, allowing for either round figure to be satisfactorily given as a total. However, it is to be noted that in Numbers special mention is made of the fact that the judges of Israel killed the head men who had an attachment with the Baal of Peor. (Num. 25:4, 5) There may well have been a thousand of those head ones who died at the hands of the judges. But the 23,000 persons apparently were direct victims of the scourge from Jehovah. The resulting total would be 24,000, the figure given at Numbers 25:9. Of course, in general all 24,000 experienced God’s scourge in that they all died under his decree of judgment. (Deut. 4:3) Since Paul wrote under divine inspiration, there is no reason to conclude that he erred in giving the number of those who fell because of their wrongdoing in the incident involving the Baal of Peor.

● Who was the father of Zerubbabel? The Bible seems to indicate both Pedaiah and Shealtiel.—J.B., U.S.A.

Pedaiah was the fleshly father of Zerubbabel. This is indicated by 1 Chronicles 3:17-19, which states: “And the sons of Jeconiah [Jehoiachin] as prisoner [in Babylon] were Shealtiel his son and Malchiram and Pedaiah . . . And the sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei.”