Israel affected

Thus, God’s warning to Israel in effect told them of the many ailments that a course of disobedience to his will would inevitably produce among them. His Law given to them served as a deterrent to and a protection against disease, because of its high moral and hygienic standards (see DISEASES AND TREATMENT [Accuracy of Scriptural Concepts]), also because of its healthful effect on their mental and emotional state. (Ps. 19:7-11; 119:102, 103, 111, 112, 165) Not an occasional infraction of that Law but outright abandonment and rejection of its standards is what Leviticus 26:14-16 describes, and this would certainly make the nation vulnerable to all manner of disease and contagion. History, both past and present, bears testimony to the truthfulness of this.

The nation of Israel fell into gross apostasy, and Ezekiel’s prophecy shows the people as coming to speak of themselves as “rotting away” due to their revolts and sins. (Ezek. 33:10, 11; compare 24:23.) As foretold, the nation experienced “the sword and the famine and the pestilence,” this reaching a climax at the time of the Babylonian invasion. (Jer. 32:16, 24) The frequent association of pestilence with sword and famine (Jer. 21:9; 27:13; Ezek. 7:15) is in harmony with known facts. Pestilence usually accompanies, or follows in the wake of, war and its associated food shortages. When an enemy force invades a land, agricultural activities are curtailed, crops are often confiscated or burned. Cities under siege are cut off from outside resources, and famine develops among the populace forced to live amid overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Under such circumstances, resistance to disease drops and the way is open for the deadly assault of pestilence.

AT THE “CONCLUSION OF THE SYSTEM OF THINGS”

Jesus, when foretelling Jerusalem’s destruction and the “conclusion of the system of things,” showed that pestilence would be a notable feature among the generation within whose life-span the “great tribulation” would come. (Matt. 24:3, 21; Luke 21:10, 11, 31, 32) Written after Jerusalem’s destruction (which was accompanied by grave famine and disease), Revelation 6:1-8 pointed to a future time of sword, famine and “deadly plague.” These would follow the appearance of the crowned rider on a white horse who goes forth to conquer, a figure precisely paralleling that of Revelation 19:11-16, which clearly applies to the reigning Christ Jesus.

JEHOVAH’S PROTECTION

King Solomon prayed that, when menaced by pestilence, Jehovah’s people might pray to Him for relief, spreading out their palms toward the temple, and receive favorable hearing. (1 Ki. 8:37-40; 2 Chron. 6:28-31) Jehovah’s ability to protect his faithful servant against harm, including that of “the pestilence that walks in the gloom,” is comfortingly expressed in Psalm 91.

PETER

(Peʹter) [a stone; a piece of rock].

This apostle of Jesus Christ is named in five different ways in the Scriptures: by the Hebrew “Symeon,” the Greek “Simon” (meaning “hearing”), “Peter” (a Greek name he alone bears in the Scriptures), its Semitic equivalent “Cephas” (perhaps related to the Hebrew ke·phimʹ [“rocks”] used at Job 30:6; Jeremiah 4:29), and the combination “Simon Peter.”—Acts 15:14; Matt. 10:2; 16:16; John 1:42.

Peter was the son of John or Jonah. (Matt. 16:17; John 1:42) He is first shown residing in Bethsaida (John 1:44), but later in Capernaum (Luke 4:31, 38), both places being located on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Peter and his brother Andrew were engaged in the fishing business, evidently associated with James and John, the sons of Zebedee, “who were sharers with Simon.” (Luke 5:7, 10; Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-21) Thus, Peter was no lone fisherman but part of an operation of some size. Though the Jewish leaders viewed Peter and John as “men unlettered and ordinary,” this does not mean they were illiterate or unschooled. Regarding the word a·gramʹma·tos applied to them, Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. III, p. 757) says that to a Jew “it meant one who had had no training in the Rabbinic study of Scripture.”—Compare John 7:14, 15; Acts 4:13.

Peter is shown to be a married man, and, at least in later years, his wife apparently accompanied him on his missions (or some of them), as did the wives of others of the apostles. (1 Cor. 9:5) His mother-in-law lived in his home, one he shared with his brother Andrew.—Mark 1:29-31.

MINISTRY WITH JESUS

Peter was one of the earliest of Jesus’ disciples, being led to Jesus by Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist. (John 1:35-42) At this time Jesus gave him the name Cephas (or Peter) (John 1:42; Mark 3:16) and the name was likely prophetic. Jesus, who was able to discern that Nathanael was a man “in whom there is no deceit,” could also discern Peter’s makeup. Peter, indeed, displayed rocklike qualities, especially after Jesus’ death and resurrection, becoming a strengthening influence on his fellow Christians.—John 1:47, 48; 2:25; Luke 22:32.

It was sometime later, up in Galilee, that Peter, his brother Andrew and their associates James and John, received Jesus’ call to come and be “fishers of men.” (John 1:35-42; Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-18) Jesus had chosen Peter’s boat from which to speak to the multitude on the shore, afterward causing a miraculous catch of fish, one that moved Peter, who had at first shown a doubtful attitude, to fall before Jesus in fear. He and his three associates, thereafter, abandoned their business without hesitation to follow Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11) After about a year’s discipleship, Peter was included among those twelve chosen to be “apostles” or ‘sent forth ones.’—Mark 3:13-19.

Of the apostles, Peter, James and John were several times selected by Jesus to accompany him on special occasions, as in the instances of the transfiguration scene (Matt. 17:1, 2; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28, 29), the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:22-24, 35-42) and Jesus’ personal trial in the garden of Gethsemane. (Matt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42) These three, plus Andrew, were those who particularly questioned Jesus about Jerusalem’s destruction, Jesus’ future presence and the conclusion of the system of things. (Mark 13:1-3; Matt. 24:3) Though Peter is associated with his brother Andrew in the apostolic lists, the record of events more frequently pairs him with John, both before and after Jesus’ death and resurrection. (Luke 22:8; John 13:24; 20:2; 21:7; Acts 3:1; 8:14; compare Acts 1:13; Galatians 2:9.) Whether this was due to natural friendship and affinity, or because they were assigned to work together by Jesus (compare Mark 6:7), is not made known.

The Gospel accounts record more of Peter’s statements than of any of the other eleven. He was clearly of a dynamic nature, not diffident or hesitant. This doubtless caused him to speak up first or to express himself where others remained silent. He raised questions that resulted in Jesus’ clarifying and amplifying illustrations. (Matt. 15:15; 18:21; 19:27-29; Luke 12:41; John 13:36-38; compare Mark 11:21-25.) At times he spoke impulsively, even impetuously. He was the one who felt he had to say something on seeing the vision of the transfiguration. (Mark 9:1-6; Luke 9:33) By his somewhat flustered remark as to the worthwhileness of being there and his offering to build three tents, he apparently was suggesting that the vision (in which Moses and Elijah were now separating from Jesus) should not end but continue on. The night of the final Passover, Peter at first strongly objected to Jesus’ washing his feet, and then, on being reproved, wanted him to wash his head and hands also. (John 13:5-10) It may be