The Royal “Shepherd” of Bible Prophecy

 1. How have the political “shepherds” of the world kept the peoples, and how will this be remedied?

THE political “shepherds” of this system of things keep the sheeplike peoples divided. Each people is in a separated national fold. There is no one all-embracing fold for all mankind. The organization for world peace and security, the United Nations, has failed to provide such a universal fold although it now holds 151a member nations. It does not meet the need of the peoples for one fold under one Shepherd. Only the Creator, who “made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth,” can provide the needed Governmental Shepherd for gathering all peoples into one fold.​—Acts 17:26.

2, 3. (a) Why did Jehovah see good to dethrone the shepherds that descended from King David? (b) Why does Jeremiah 23:1, 2 pronounce woe against such shepherds?

² By means of his own chosen people Israel, the Creator demonstrated to all the world that, under the present system of things, no imperfect man can bring all humankind together as one flock and rule them as their one shepherd. This proved to be true even with the dynasty of kings that descended from King David, who captured Jerusalem and made it the capital city in 1070 B.C.E. As earthly representatives of the God of Israel they sat upon what was called “Jehovah’s throne.” (1 Chron. 29:23; 2 Chron. 13:8) Because of the steady worsening of the governmental shepherds (with few exceptions) God saw good to dethrone this dynasty after 463 years of rule.

³ “‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasturage!’ is the utterance of Jehovah. Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of Israel has said against the shepherds who are shepherding my people: ‘You yourselves have scattered my sheep; and you kept dispersing them, and you have not turned your attention to them.’ ‘Here I am turning my attention upon you for the badness of your dealings,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.”​—Jer. 23:1, 2.

 4. As “shepherds,” how did Shallum (Jehoahaz) and Jehoiakim fare?

⁴ After the death of good King Josiah in 628 B.C.E., his three sons and a grandson proved to be bad in their dealings. This resulted in the scattering of their subjects. For example, there was Shallum, or Jehoahaz, who was first to succeed Josiah on “Jehovah’s throne.” After reigning a quarter of a year, he was taken into exile in Egypt. There he died. (Jer. 22:10-12) As for his older brother, Jehoiakim, his reign of 11 years was so oppressive and bloodguilty that he deserved nothing better than for his carcass to be thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem and to be buried “with the burial of a he-ass.”​—Jer. 22:13-19.

 5. As “shepherds,” how did Coniah (Jehoiachin) and Zedekiah fare?

⁵ Jehoiakim was succeeded by his young son, Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah or Coniah. (Matt. 1:11, 12) Because he was a descendant of King David and sat upon “Jehovah’s throne,” he might have been esteemed as precious as a seal ring on Jehovah’s right hand. Yet for his badness he deserved to be plucked off and hurled into exile in the land of Babylon. After reigning only three months and 10 days he felt obliged to surrender to the king of Babylon who was then besieging Jerusalem. Jehoiachin and more than 10,000 Israelites were taken into exile in Babylon, to die there. He did not leave behind him a son to sit on the throne, but his uncle, Zedekiah the son of Josiah, was made king as a vassal to Emperor Nebuchadnezzar. (2 Ki. 24:5-17; Jer. 22:24-30) Zedekiah violated his oath that was taken in Jehovah’s name. Hence, when he faced the consequences of his rebellious course and he made inquiry of the prophet Jeremiah, it brought only a message of doom for Zedekiah.

 6. How did the “woe” upon those “shepherds” prove to be woe to their subjects, and how was Jehovah responsible for the scattering?

⁶ What befell those four royal “shepherds” of the kingdom of Judah and the undershepherd princes was “woe,” indeed. This meant also the scattering of their sheeplike subjects by their going into exile in Egypt and Babylon. This left the land of Judah a desolate waste. Because of their wickedness the “shepherds” were responsible for this scattering of the “sheep.” The God of Israel, Jehovah, may be said to have done the scattering only in that he raised up his disciplinary executional forces for bringing punishment upon his disobedient people.​—Jer. 23:1, 2; 2 Chron. 36:9-21.

THE ONE TO BE CALLED “JEHOVAH IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

7, 8. (a) Who only can provide a “shepherd” superior to those last four kings of Jerusalem, and why? (b) In promising such a superior “shepherd,” what did Jehovah say at Jeremiah 23:3-6?

⁷ The ideal shepherd we find in the God of the Bible, Jehovah. He can provide a governmental shepherd better than those last four kings of Jerusalem, whose badness resulted in the scattering of their sheeplike subjects. In view of the disappointment that imperfect human rulers leave behind for their subjects, the heavenly Shepherd Jehovah has promised to provide such a superior governmental shepherd. So after pronouncing “woe” upon the disappointing “shepherds” of the kingdom of Judah, he inspired his prophet Jeremiah to say:

⁸ “‘And I myself shall collect together the remnant of my sheep out of all the lands to which I had dispersed them, and I will bring them back to their pasture ground, and they will certainly be fruitful and become many. And I will raise up over them shepherds who will actually shepherd them; and they will be afraid no more, neither will they be struck with any terror, and none will be missing,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I will raise up to David a righteous sprout [in contrast to David’s unrighteous royal offshoots]. And a king will certainly reign and act with discretion and execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel itself will reside in security. And this is his name with which he will be called, ‘Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.’”​—Jer. 23:3-6.

 9. Why does the fact that the name of the promised “shepherd” was to be “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” not mean that he is Jehovah himself?

⁹ “He shall be called: ‘The Lord is our Vindicator.’” That is how the 1978 edition of the translation by the Jewish Publication Society of America rendered Jeremiah 23:6, whereas Moffatt’s translation reads, “our champion.” No man on earth came to bear that name literally. Yet the prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His becoming entitled to that name does not mean that Jesus is Jehovah God himself. The Israelite called Jehozadak, whose name means “Jehovah Declared Righteous” or “Jehovah Is Righteous,” was not Jehovah himself. (1 Chron. 6:14, 15) Jeremiah 33:16 tells us that even Jerusalem was to be called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” but does that mean that Jerusalem was Jehovah himself? No! The name of the last reigning king of Jerusalem was Zedekiah, and that name means “The Righteousness of Jah.” The king who was to be called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” namely, Jesus Christ, contrasts sharply with King Zedekiah.

10, 11. (a) Upon which people was the promise of Jeremiah 23:5, 6 fulfilled? (b) To whom did the name “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” properly become attached, and how so?

¹⁰ The prophecy of Jeremiah 23:5, 6 was not fulfilled in Jesus’ day upon literal Judah and Israel and Jerusalem. Those Jewish elements rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They suffered ruin and dispersion by the Romans in 70 C.E. Actually the prophecy is fulfilled upon spiritual Israelites, Christ’s anointed disciples.

¹¹ During World War I of 1914-1918 the remnant of spiritual Israelites was dispersed by the clergy and nations of Christendom that were then engaged in world war. But from 1919 onward Jehovah used the glorified Jesus Christ to collect the dispersed remnant together into a spiritual unity, world wide. The members of this repentant, restored remnant of spiritual Israelites were cleansed and thus made fit to proclaim “this good news of the kingdom” internationally, in “all the inhabited earth.” (Matt. 24:9-14) In this way, by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness through Christ, they were declared righteous or were vindicated. Jehovah proved to be their Backer, their “champion,” and they became his Christian witnesses. (Isa. 43:10) Inasmuch as this favor was to come through the then enthroned Royal Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the name “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” deserved to be attached to him.

12. The releasing of the remnant from Babylon and the resettling of them in the land of Judah paved the way for what important birth?

¹² In order to foreshadow this, Jehovah brought a repentant remnant of Israelites out of “the land of the north” and restored them to their homeland in 537 B.C.E. (Jer. 23:7, 8) This bringing of them up out of Babylon and the resettling of them in the long-desolated land of Judah paved the way for the greatest birth on earth to take place, in Bethlehem-Judah. It was the birth of Jesus Christ as a descendant of King David.​—Luke 2:1-38; 3:23-31.

13. (a) Jehovah raised up a “righteous sprout” to David in spite of what about David’s dynasty? (b) How did Jehovah deal with the remnant in harmony with the sprout’s name, “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness”?

¹³ Thus Jehovah raised up to David a “righteous sprout,” in spite of His woeful prophecy against King Coniah (or, Jeconiah; or, Jehoiachin).b (Jer. 22:24 through 23:2; Matt. 1:11-16; 2 Ki. 25:27-30) This “righteous sprout,” Jesus Christ, laid down his perfect human life as a sacrifice for his future human subjects. By doing this he laid the basis for 144,000 dedicated followers of his to be ‘declared righteous’ with a view to their becoming joint heirs with him in his heavenly kingdom. (Rom. 8:14-17; 1 Cor. 1:30, 31) Since 1919 C.E., despite the accusations made by the clergy of Christendom against the remnant of these 144,000 Kingdom heirs, Jehovah has restored this remnant to his favor and service. Thereby Jehovah has championed them, vindicated them or ‘declared them righteous,’ through Christ.​—Rom. 8:31-33; Jer. 23:6, Moffatt; JPS; NW.

14. Among this anointed remnant, what servants has Jehovah raised up since the Kingdom’s birth in 1914?

¹⁴ Among this restored remnant of spiritual Israelites Jehovah has raised up faithful elders or overseers. Inasmuch as the Messianic kingdom was born in the heavens at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914, these overseers serve as princely shepherds on earth until all the remnant finishes its earthly course and joins the Royal “Shepherd” in his heavenly kingdom.​—Jer. 23:3, 4; Isa. 32:1, 2.

HOW CHRISTENDOM’S CLERGY HAVE FAILED

15. In contrast with the state of the anointed remnant, in what condition does Christendom find herself now?

¹⁵ Under the heavenly King, the one called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” the restored remnant of spiritual Israelites resides in a spiritual paradise. (Jer. 23:3-6) No such paradise of spiritual peace and security exists today in Christendom. She finds herself in a state polluted with adultery and stricken with spiritual famine. Her condition is heartbreaking and is the forerunner of an outcome still more heartrending. It will make a person reel like a drunken alcoholic.​—Jer. 23:9, 10; Matt. 24:21, 22.

16, 17. In line with Jeremiah 23:11-14, who are the ones responsible for Christendom’s condition today?

¹⁶ The ones responsible for this are the clergy of Christendom. They have failed their church members. It is just as Jehovah said of the false prophets and temple priests of Jeremiah’s day:

¹⁷ “‘For both the prophet and the priest themselves have become polluted. Also in my own house [the temple] I have found their badness,’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Therefore their way will become for them like slippery places in the gloom, into which they will be pushed and certainly fall. . . . And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things, committing adultery and walking in falsehood; and they have strengthened the hands of evildoers in order that they should not return, each one from his own badness. To me all of them have become like Sodom, and the inhabitants of her [Jerusalem] like Gomorrah.’”​—Jer. 23:11-14.

18. Since when and in what way have Christendom’s clergymen been guilty of spiritual adultery?

¹⁸ Ever since Christendom was founded in the days of Constantine the Great, Pontifex Maximus of the Roman Empire, the Catholic clergy and, later, the Protestant clergy have been guilty of spiritual adultery. How so? In being friends of this world and taking part in its politics and military ventures.​—Jas. 4:4.

19. How are the clergy and their church members tainted with literal immorality?

¹⁹ The clergy let literal adulterers and homosexuals stay in their own ranks and officiate in their churches. Not to be wondered at, then, is the clergy’s allowing such types of immoral persons to remain among their own enrolled church members. Today the immoral condition of Christendom is notorious, “horrible,” on a scale grander than in Sodom and Gomorrah. Deservedly Christendom will suffer the fate of those ancient immoral cities.

20. Why will the clergy drink the potion of death?

²⁰ As the most reprehensible ones among the people of Christendom, the clergy and religious leaders will drink the potion of death: “For from the prophets of Jerusalem [prefiguring Christendom] apostasy has gone forth to all the land.”​—Jer. 23:15.

21. How, in 1925 C.E., did the Jeremiah class call world attention to the apostasy of the clergy?

²¹ The modern Jeremiah class was prompt and fearless in calling world attention to the clergy’s apostasy. The year 1925 was noteworthy for this. At the general convention of the International Bible Students Association in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 24-31, the main feature was the adopting of a resolution entitled “Message of Hope.” The Association’s president introduced the resolution after delivering his talk entitled “A Call to Action” and went on to read it. Among other things, it stated:

. . . the religionists, both Catholic and Protestant, are conspicuous for their arrogance, self-conceit, impiety and ungodliness. Therefore, it is apparent that the remedies offered by any and all of these aforementioned elements are vain, impotent and powerless to satisfy man’s desire.

Catholicism claims and assumes that which justly belongs exclusively to God. Modernists deny God, deny His Word and His plan of redemption, and offer blind forcec as a remedy for man’s undone condition. Fundamentalists, while professing to believe the Bible, by their course of action deny the same. They teach false and God dishonoring doctrines, and together with Catholics and Modernists are allied with the political and commercial powers of the world in blasphemously claiming the ability to establish God’s kingdom on earth. All these have combined under Satan their superlord to push God into a corner and to dishonor his name. . . .

. . . Knowing this, and that his time is short, the Devil is trying to overwhelm the peoples with a great flood of false and deceptive doctrines and to turn their minds completely away from Jehovah. The time has come for God to make for himself a name in the earth and for the peoples to know the truth concerning the divine plan, which is the only means of salvation for the world.​—Paragraphs 5, 6, 9. See The Watch Tower as of October 15, 1925, pages 310, 311. Note also Revelation 8:12; 16:8, 9.

22. (a) Who serve in behalf of God’s purpose to make a name for himself? (b) How have the clergy shown disrespect for God’s name in the way they prophesy?

²² The address “A Call to Action,” with which the above resolution was introduced, said, in paragraph 28: “The time has come for Jehovah to make for himself a name in the earth. The church has a part in this to the extent of being the witnesses for the Lord.” (Page 326 of The Watch Tower as of November 1, 1925) So, from the start of the year (1926) following the resolution and its distribution world wide in a tract, the Jeremiah class made a noteworthy effort to set the name of Jehovah before all mankind. But Christendom’s clergy proved to be disrespectful of the name of God. Transferring God’s name from his stated purpose to bring a whirlwind of calamity upon Christendom, the clergy kept saying “to those who are disrespectful of me [God], ‘Jehovah has spoken: “Peace is what you people will come to have.”’ And to every one walking in the stubbornness of his heart they have said, ‘No calamity will come upon you people.’”​—Jer. 23:17-20.d

23. (a) Did Jehovah send those clergymen, or who did? (b) According to Jeremiah 23:21, 22, what would have happened if the clergy had stood in Jehovah’s intimate group?

²³ However, who sent those clergymen with their promises of peace? They had not “stood in the intimate group of Jehovah” so as to learn his message accurately. Jehovah had not sent them in his name. He did not speak to them that they might prophesy what was “from the mouth of Jehovah.” The religious sects of Christendom sent them forth from her theological seminaries. What would have happened if the clergy had stood in Jehovah’s “intimate group” or in his council and had stuck to his disclosures? Jehovah says: “But if they had stood in my intimate group, then they would have made my people hear my own words, and they would have caused them to turn back from their bad way and from the badness of their dealings.”​—Jer. 23:21, 22.

24. If the clergy had stood in Jehovah’s council, what would not be true about Christendom’s church members and involvements?

²⁴ In that case there would not be the appalling Bible illiteracy that exists today among churchgoers. If the clergy themselves had taken the lead and had adhered to God’s revealed Word and had taught their millions of church members to do the same, two world wars would not have occurred, wars that started inside Christendom! The responsible clergy are not concealed from Jehovah. He has not been only a “God nearby” so as not to see things far away.​—Jer. 23:23, 24.

25. For the listening public, what, according to Jeremiah 23:25-28, should anyone with something to offer now do?

²⁵ The time has come for the people to decide whether to listen further to the “dreams” of Christendom’s clergy or to listen to Jehovah’s Word as proclaimed by the Jeremiah class. The time has come also for those who claim to be ministers of God to act on the issue set out in Jeremiah 23:25-28: “The prophet with whom there is a dream, let him relate the dream; but the one with whom my own word is, let him speak forth my word truthfully.”

26. Since there must be a cleavage between dreams and God’s Word, what have the Jeremiah class and the “great crowd” decided to do?

²⁶ What does Jehovah’s Word have to do with unfounded “dreams,” the visions of mere human hearts? Nothing! There must be a cleavage between the two things, like a separation of grain from the straw. The Jeremiah class having God’s Word within them have decided to speak it forth faithfully all the time. Out of respect for Jehovah a “great crowd” of listeners have decided to do likewise.

27. When, and then how, is God’s Word like a fire and a forge hammer?

²⁷ For nearly 60 years now the Jeremiah class have faithfully spoken forth Jehovah’s Word. Of its own self that Word has not burned up the combustible organizations of Christendom; nor has it smashed to pieces the mountainlike system of things. Yet the divine Word as proclaimed by the Jeremiah class is not a failure. When, at Jehovah’s due time, in the “great tribulation,” that spoken Word is carried out by him, then his own question will be answered affirmatively: “‘Is not my word correspondingly like a fire,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and like a forge hammer that smashes the crag?’” (Jer. 23:25) So let us keep faith in that Word.

28. How do the clergy ‘steal away God’s words, each one from his companion,’ and so who is against them?

²⁸ Unlike the clergy class, those of the Jeremiah class have been sent by Jehovah to speak in his name. Nevertheless, the clergy prophets also claim to speak in his name and, hence, to tell the Bible truth. In this way Christendom’s religious leaders really ‘steal’ away the force and effect of the calamitous message proclaimed by the Jeremiah class. True, the Jeremiah class back up their message by quoting the words, “This is what Jehovah has said.” But the clergy try to add weight and the ring of truth to what they preach by affixing the words, “An utterance!” Seemingly they speak from God. So they may use a Bible text as a pretext for preaching about politics or even war propaganda. Yet Jehovah is against such clergy prophets whom he did not send forth from his intimate group and who ‘steal’ words from his Bible in order to make a wrong application of them.​—Jer. 23:30, 31.

29. How will Jehovah show that such clergy prophets are fakes?

²⁹ How will Jehovah show that such clergy prophets are fakes? By not fulfilling what they announce to be “an utterance!” or what they presume to speak in his name. He does not back up their falsehood. “‘Here I am against the prophets of false dreams,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘who relate them and cause my people to wander about [going astray] because of their falsehoods and because of their boasting.’ ‘But I myself did not send them or command them. So they will by no means benefit this people,’ is the utterance of Jehovah.” (Jer. 23:32) Too bad for the people!

30. To what shall we give due weight​—to the clergy’s assurances or to Jehovah’s Word?

³⁰ At this time when Christendom is not at peace with God, let us not be soothed to spiritual drowsiness or to sleep by the clergy’s false assurance of peace. Let us take seriously “the burden,” or weighty message, from God’s Word.​—Jer. 23:33.

“THE BURDEN OF JEHOVAH”

31. When those of Christendom ask us to tell them frankly what is the weighty message for today, what are we obliged to tell them?

³¹ Today Jehovah’s message for this political, religious, commercial system of things is heavy with doom bespeaking ruinous calamity. It is accordingly a heavy responsibility for us to declare Jehovah’s message for this “time of the end.” So when we answer people’s questions about the destiny of this system of things, let us be sure to tell what is really the “burden” of Jehovah. When Christendom’s laity class or prophets or priests ask us to tell them frankly on what points the weight of Jehovah’s Word bears down, we are obliged to tell them that Christendom’s people themselves are to him a “burden,” yes, “O what a burden!” So he will rid himself of this “burden” by abandoning Christendom to calamity.

32. How do the people of Christendom counter what the Jeremiah class declares to be “the burden of Jehovah,” and so what do they change?

³² People disrespectful of Jehovah do not like to accept what the Jeremiah class declare to be “the burden of Jehovah.” So they do not like to remember it as something really serious. By way of a counter-proposition, they follow their prophets and priests in presenting what they insist is the real “burden” of God’s Word. But their counter-proposition is not based on the Holy Scriptures. It is of private interpretation, and so it “becomes to each one his own word.” To such self-opinionated religionists, the Jeremiah class say: “You have changed the words of the living God, Jehovah of armies, our God.” (Jer. 23:33-36) But can they change the calamity about which the “burden of Jehovah” warns us? Aha, No!

33, 34. To whose being present must the Jeremiah class call the attention of religionists who denominate their message “the very burden of Jehovah”?

³³ Contrary to what those of the Jeremiah class have proclaimed since the postwar year of 1919, Christendom’s mouthpieces present their false, misleading message. To make it sound weighty to others, they refer to what they have to say as “The burden of Jehovah.” To these religionists Jehovah has continuously sent the Jeremiah class to tell such ones not to denominate their sermons and prophesyings as “The burden of Jehovah.” So what response must the Jeremiah class make to such religionists? This:

³⁴ “Therefore this is what Jehovah has said: ‘By reason of your saying, “This word is the very burden of Jehovah,” when I kept sending to you [by the Jeremiah class], saying: “You must not say: ‘The burden of Jehovah!’” therefore here I am!’”​—Jer. 23:38, 39.

35, 36. According to Jeremiah 23:39, 40, what decision as handed down by Jehovah must the Jeremiah class declare to those who tell or who listen to a counterfeit “burden”?

³⁵ Right! Jehovah is here as Judge of Christendom’s prophets. What decision does he hand down regarding the “prophets” who classify their message as “the very burden of Jehovah” and regarding the people who take heed to the counterfeit “burden”? The Judge tells us:

³⁶ “And I will give you people to neglect, with finality, and I will desert you and the city that I gave to you and to your forefathers​—from before me. And I will put upon you reproach to time indefinite and humiliation to time indefinite, which will not be forgotten.”​—Jer. 23:39, 40.

37. (a) How did Jehovah execute his judicial decision in Jeremiah’s day, and with what effect? (b) How did Jeremiah then fare, and how will this be true regarding the Jeremiah class?

³⁷ Judge Jehovah’s decision as thus stated was executed in Jeremiah’s day, when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and its profaned temple in 607 B.C.E. This reproachful, humiliating experience for those stubborn, unfaithful Israelites proved that Jehovah, whom they had disrespected, had now finally given them up to neglect. He had deserted them to the consequences of their badness. It silenced the mouths of the presumptuous false prophets. But Jeremiah’s mouth kept prophesying. Jehovah had not deserted him. True to this type, Jehovah will not desert the Jeremiah class when shortly he executes his weighty decision against Christendom’s clergy and congregations.​—Jer. 39:11–40:4; Lam. 1:1-22.

“FOOLED”​—BENEFICIALLY

38. In what way had Jehovah fooled Jeremiah, and with what effect?

³⁸ Thus Jeremiah finished 40 years of telling out all that Jehovah had commanded him. He found that Jehovah had overpowered him. Jehovah had proved stronger than he was. His Word had exercised a persuasive force on Jeremiah. (Rotherham) Due to this fact, Jeremiah had endured in divine service to its completion. In this respect Jehovah had “fooled” him. He had proved stronger than Jeremiah’s weakness. Hence, Jeremiah was not hurt by being fooled.

39, 40. This recalls to our minds what words of Jeremiah after Pashʹhur released him from the stocks?

³⁹ Here we recall Jeremiah’s words after Pashʹhur, the leading commissioner of the temple, released him from the stocks:

⁴⁰ “You have fooled me, O Jehovah, so that I was fooled. You used your strength against me [against my inclination], so that you prevailed. I became an object of laughter all day long; everyone is holding me in derision. For as often as I speak, I cry out. Violence and despoiling are what I call out. For the word of Jehovah became for me a cause for reproach and for jeering all day long. And I said: ‘I am not going to make mention of him, and I shall speak no more in his name.’ And in my heart it proved to be like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I got tired of holding in, and I was unable to endure it. For I heard the bad report of many. There was fright all around. . . . But Jehovah was with me like a terrible mighty one. That is why the very ones persecuting me will stumble and not prevail. They will certainly be put to much shame, because they will not have prospered. Their indefinitely lasting humiliation will be one that will not be forgotten.”​—Jer. 20:7-11.

41. So how shall we be enabled to keep on telling about the Royal Shepherd called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness”?

⁴¹ Like “a terrible mighty one” Jehovah will strengthen us in our weakness. In his strength, we shall keep on telling about his Royal Shepherd, the one called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.”

[Footnotes]

See page 3-A of The Galveston Daily News as of September 26, 1977, under the heading “Pope Paul Looking Forward To Approaching Death.”