connected with this issue be thoroughly made known and understood. The action that God took engenders confidence in his unchangeableness, it enhances his sovereignty and makes it even more desirable and firmly established in the minds of all who choose it.—Compare Malachi 3:6.

A moral issue

The question, then, is not one of might, of raw strength; it is primarily a moral issue. However, because of God’s invisibility, and because Satan has exerted every effort to blind men’s minds, Jehovah’s power or even his existence has at times been questioned. (1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9) Men have mistaken the reason for God’s patience and kindness and have themselves become more rebellious. (Eccl. 8:11; 2 Pet. 3:9) Because of this it has taken faith, along with suffering, to serve God with integrity. (Heb. 11:6, 35-38) Nevertheless, Jehovah purposes to make his sovereignty known to all. In Egypt he said to Pharaoh: “In fact, for this cause I have kept you in existence, for the sake of showing you my power and in order to have my name declared in all the earth.” (Ex. 9:16) Likewise God has allowed a time for this world and its god, Satan the Devil, to exist and develop in their wickedness and a time for their destruction. (2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Pet. 3:7) The prophetic prayer of the psalmist was: “That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” (Ps. 83:18) Jehovah himself has sworn: “To me every knee will bow down, every tongue will swear, saying, ‘Surely in Jehovah there are full righteousness and strength.’”—Isa. 45:23, 24.

How far the issue reached

How far-reaching was the issue? If man could be induced to sin, and since the rebellious angel had sinned, the question would reach up to and include God’s heavenly creatures, even up to his only-begotten Son, the one closest to Jehovah God. This One, who always did the things pleasing to his Father, would be most anxious to serve for the vindication of God’s name and sovereignty. (John 8:29; Heb. 1:9) God selected him for this assignment, sending him to the earth, where he was born as a male child through the virgin Mary. (Luke 1:35) He was perfect, and maintained that perfection and blamelessness throughout his life, even to a disgraceful death. (Heb. 7:26) Before his death he said: “Now there is a judging of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” Also: “The ruler of the world is coming. And he has no hold on me.” (John 12:31; 14:30) Satan could get no hold so as to break Christ’s integrity, and was judged as having failed, ready to be cast out. Jesus “conquered the world.”—John 16:33.

Jesus Christ God’s Vindicator

So Jesus Christ, in a totally perfect way, proved the Devil a liar, completely settling the question, Will any man be faithful to God under whatever test or trial may be brought against him? Jesus therefore was appointed by the Sovereign God as the Executor of His purposes, the One to be used to destroy wickedness, including the Devil, from the universe. This authority he will exercise, and ‘every knee will bend and every tongue openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.’—Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8.

In the dominion granted the Son he rules in his Father’s name, ‘bringing to nothing’ all government and all authority and power that stand against Jehovah’s sovereignty. The apostle Paul reveals that Jesus Christ then offers the greatest tribute to Jehovah’s sovereignty, for, “when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.”—1 Cor. 15:24-28.

The book of Revelation shows that after the end of Christ’s 1,000-year reign, in which he puts down all authority that attempts to rival Jehovah’s sovereignty, the Devil will be loosed for a short time. He will try to revive the issue, but no long grant of time will be given for that which is already settled. Satan and those following him will be completely annihilated.—Rev. 20:7-10.

Other vindicators

Though Christ’s faithfulness thoroughly proved God’s side of the issue, others are permitted to share in serving for God in this matter. The effects of Christ’s integrity-keeping course, including his sacrificial death, are pointed out by the apostle: “Through one act of justification the result to men of all sorts is a declaring of them righteous for life.” (Rom. 5:18) Christ has been made the Head of a congregational “body” (Col. 1:18), the members of which share in his death of integrity, and he is glad to have them share with him as joint heirs, as associate kings in his Kingdom rule. (Luke 22:28-30; Rom. 6:3-5; 8:17; Rev. 20:4, 6) Faithful men of old, looking forward to God’s provision, maintained integrity, though imperfect in body. (Heb. 11:13-16) And the many others who eventually bend the knee in acknowledgment will likewise do so in heartfelt recognition of God’s righteous, worthy sovereignty. As the psalmist sang prophetically: “Every breathing thing—let it praise Jah. Praise Jah, you people!”—Ps. 150:6.

SOW

See SWINE.

SOWER, SOWING

The ancient method of sowing seed was generally by “broadcasting.” The sower carried grain seed in a fold of his garment or in a container. He dispersed the seed before him with his hand in a long sweeping motion that extended from the seed supply to the opposite side. In Palestine the sowing season extended from about October until the first part of March, depending on the kind of grain sown.

JEHOVAH’S BLESSING ON THE SOWER ESSENTIAL

Jehovah is the One providing the seed and the growing process, as well as the sunshine and rain, by which the field produces many times the quantity that is planted. (2 Sam. 23:3, 4; Isa. 55:10) All mankind, whether righteous or wicked, thus receive benefits from the Creator. (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:15-17) However, since Jehovah God does not generally exercise specific control over the factors that make growth possible, wicked persons at times may enjoy a bountiful harvest, whereas righteous ones, because of experiencing unfavorable conditions, may have a crop failure.—Compare Job 21:7-24.

On the other hand, when it suits his purpose, Jehovah can bless the sower and bring him abundant crops, or he can cause a scarcity of fruitage, depending upon the sower’s faithfulness and obedience to Him. For example, Jehovah purposed to make Israel a great and numerous nation in the Promised Land, so he blessed his obedient servants bountifully. When Isaac was sojourning in Canaan, even though he was harassed by the natives of the land, Jehovah blessed him so that his sowing resulted in a harvest of up to one hundred measures from one measure sown.—Gen. 26:12.

The spiritual condition of Israel determined the kind of harvest they received. Jehovah said to them before they entered the Promised Land: “If you continue walking in my statutes and keeping my commandments and you do carry them out, . . . your threshing will certainly reach to your grape gathering, and the grape gathering will reach to the sowing of seed.” The crops would be so bountiful that the harvest would not be finished before the time to sow the next crop. (Compare Amos 9:13.) On the other hand, God warned: “If you will not