followed the Greater Cyrus who, like Cyrus of old, served as Jehovah’s shepherd and did liberate many of the Jews. The Jewish remnant of faithful ones were given the real freedom that Jehovah God provided for those who seriously considered his Word and compared the prophecies of the ancient Hebrew prophets with the events surrounding Jesus and the works that he did. They recognized Jesus as the Fine Shepherd and followed him to the freedom that he gave, which was, as he stated, ‘an actual freedom,’ not only from false religion and its bondage but also from the power of sin and its penalty death.—John 8:31-36.

Whether you belong to Jewry or to a religion of Christendom, seriously ask yourself, “What freedom have the religious leaders given to me?” Both Jewry and Christendom are split up into many sects and divisions. Leaders of these religions admit that they are confused and that the problems of delinquency, moral degeneracy, world fear and the threat of war are increasing. They have no satisfying remedy to offer. They do not look to Jehovah to bring liberation but, rather, turn the people to the national government in whatever land they reside, and to one failing political scheme after another. Particularly, they direct the people’s hope toward the United Nations. In doing so they are acting exactly like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, turning the people away from the true Liberator, the Messiah, and keeping them in bondage to the great world religious empire of Babylon the Great. Therefore, regardless of the pomp and ceremony of the religious systems of Babylon the Great and even though their leaders do exercise great influence and wield power with the governments and rule haughtily over their religious flocks, honest persons today will be like the humble God-fearing Jews of the Messiah’s day and will prove to themselves that Messiah, the Liberator, did indeed come to Zion more than nineteen centuries ago. Moreover now, as God’s Son and reigning heavenly King, he, the Greater Cyrus, is able to liberate them from Babylon the Great.

Moving Forward in Jehovah’s Service

AS TOLD BY FRANZ ZUERCHER

ON A cold, damp day in February 1912 I stand waiting on the station platform of a small village in Switzerland for the train that will take me first to Berne and then to Paris. I am a little over twenty years old and have decided to go to Paris to improve my knowledge of French.

Beside me stands my father, hardy and erect, his strong features grave and stern. The train draws into the station and the time comes for father to take leave of his youngest son. A brief farewell and “Don’t forget your prayers, my son!” are his only words as I board the train. This