by him and he was bound to answer, for the Babylonians did not fear that they too might offend against the true God even more seriously than his people had, whom God had sold into their hand for nothing, and add to their already existing sin of idol worship.

The Israelites should have learned a lesson from this discipline of Jehovah. Many of them did. They had brought great reproach upon Jehovah’s name, as the Christian apostle Paul said to the natural Jews of his day about 56 C.E.: “For ‘the name of God is being blasphemed on account of you people among the nations’; just as it is written.” (Rom. 2:24) For seventy years they had to endure this disrespect, which naturally brought much contempt on them. They heard his name defamed, abused, blasphemed, taken up in a worthless way, but Jehovah would not let this go on forever. He is too respectful of his own name and his position as Universal Sovereign. He guaranteed that he would vindicate his name and put it in its proper sanctified place before all the nations, for, as he says, “I am the One that is speaking. Look! It is I.”

THE KIND OF WORSHIP JEHOVAH WANTS

From this experience of Israel it can be seen that Jehovah has great love for all his creatures and treats all with justice and mercy. He particularly has unbreakable love for his people, those who take his name. But he is also careful to have his name held in proper respect among them. He does not want mere lip service. He desires loving obedience, as a faithful son would obey his father. Those, therefore, who take God’s name upon themselves cannot make their religion something that is apart from their lives, but they must govern their lives by the worship of Jehovah and obedience to his commandments. He, not the individual, sets the standard as to what is true worship of him. His goodwill is toward all those who follow this course and he has in mind blessings beyond what any human mind can conceive of itself, as the apostle said: “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, neither have there been conceived in the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9) That is why we should study his Word. Even his being jealous for his own name is not a selfish interest. Why not? Because the sanctification of his name by the kingdom of the Greater Cyrus, Jesus Christ, will work to the interests of all the universe and bring unending peace to this earth, along with everlasting life and all the attendant blessings, the yet unheard of things that he, the loving Creator, has in mind to bestow upon those who obey him.

What Is Lacking?

● Among the churches of Christendom at least two things are prominently lacking—an interest in the spiritual welfare of the people and a successful effort to impart to their members a knowledge of the Scriptures. Note what clergyman G. Paul Musselman said about this in The Saturday Evening Post of November 18, 1961: “Many urban dwellers may feel that they can get along without the Church because they see it preoccupied with its own organizational affairs instead of reaching out to help people. Certainly the churchgoer’s ignorance of scriptural teachings must seem less than inspiring to the nonchurchgoer. In a survey of officers in churches, it was found that many of the leaders were not sure, for example, whether the Sermon on the Mount was in the Old or the New Testament.”