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What Accepting Jesus Meant to MeThe Watchtower—1967 | June 15
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I accepted his most gracious provision, his Son Jesus Christ, and copied the example He left for us!—1 Pet. 2:21.
(Sister Helen Griffiths died on Friday, November 4, 1966, as she neared eighty-five years of age. The funeral service was held on Sunday, November 6, and more than 165 were present to hear the talk given by a close friend of hers, Russell Kurzen, a member of the Brooklyn Bethel family. Sister Griffiths was one of the anointed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose hope of heavenly happiness is spoken of in the promise at Revelation 14:13.)
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A Bridegroom Goes to WarThe Watchtower—1967 | June 15
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A Bridegroom Goes to War
“ALL the world loves a lover,” is a common saying. When a young man newly married is called off to war, he usually has the sympathy of the whole community. Governments give consideration and often deferment to newly married men. In ancient Israel a man who; had first married was exempt from military service for a year out of consideration for his wife and that he might have an opportunity to have and to see an offspring and heir, for in Israel each man had his inheritance of land and if called into battle he might be killed and then there Would be no sons to carry on his family name and to inherit his property. Warfare was not so important that it superseded the rights of family continuance.—Deut. 24:5.
The bridegroom we are speaking of here is not some ordinary soldier. He is a commander. The duty to answer the call to war devolves upon him because the war is not an ordinary war. He is the only commander with the necessary qualifications to fight it. It involves the honor of the family name as well. Who is the commander who has such qualities and can turn from his very wedding ceremony, yes, voluntarily and gladly so? and how can he consider a war so important?
REASONS FOR GOING TO WAR
The Commander we speak of is none other than Jesus Christ. Yes, it is true that the religions of Christendom like to picture him as a mere infant in his crib or as a weak, effeminate, sorrowful, pathetic creature. But their picture is a gross distortion of the facts, for even as the religionists of Christendom will have to admit, if they read the Bible, Jesus Christ is no longer even a man. He is a mighty, glorified, immortal spirit person in the heavens. (1 Tim. 6:16; Phil. 2:9-11) He does not have to fear that he will not return from the warfare. There is no danger or possibility of his being killed and not returning to his Bride. The warfare is important to him primarily because it involves the name of his Father, Jehovah God, and, secondarily, because it is necessary for the protection of his Bride. The war is not just another war, for it is the final war against all earthly foes of God and man and therefore requires the finest Commander. Let us consider his qualifications as such:
In the Bible book of Revelation, chapter 19, immediately after the announcement of the “evening meal of the Lamb’s marriage” it describes Jesus Christ as going forth to war. God has just destroyed Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, by the instrumentality of the kings represented in the “ten horns” of the scarlet-colored wild beast. (Rev. 17:16) The fight that Jesus Christ Wages is against the enemies of God still on the earth, the political governments that oppose God’s kingdom and that are trying to destroy the remaining members of the Bride, the ones invited to the “evening meal of the Lamb’s marriage.”
WARRIOR QUALITIES
The scene opens with the Commander sitting on a white horse. “And I saw the heaven opened, and, look! a white horse. And the one seated upon it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and carries on war in righteousness.” (Rev. 19:11) A horse implies warfare, for long ago God said: “Can you give to the horse mightiness? . . . from far off it smells the battle.” (Job 39:19, 25) The Bible also uses the illustration of a horse that is dashing into the battle. (Jer. 8:6) Whiteness symbolizes cleanness, purity. Jehovah is clean and that which is in harmony with his will must be clean. This means that the warfare that Jesus Christ fights is righteous, holy and in harmony with God’s will, necessary and beneficial to humankind. He is the Faithful and True Witness. On earth he proved his integrity to God. He said before Pontius Pilate: “Everyone that is on the side of the truth listens to my voice.” He spoke of himself to the apostles as “the way and the truth and the life,” and his loyalty was firm to his Father and his God to his very death. The war he prosecutes is a judgment against God’s enemies and, in view of their past record, the fight against them is certainly in righteousness.—John 18:37; 14:6.
He is swift to ride against the enemy: “His eyes are a fiery flame, and upon his head are many diadems. He has a name written that no one knows but he himself.” (Rev. 19:12) Of course, the kings of earth do not see him with their natural eyes, for John says that he saw this vision in heaven. But they could see him, if they desired, through their spiritual eyesight, for much warning has been given. Nevertheless, they refuse to see. His eyes flash with “fiery flame,” looking to the fiery destruction of his foes. On his head the “many diadems” indicate that he has far greater authority than the wild beast that came up out of the sea, picturing Satan’s entire political organization on earth, which is shown with ten diadems. His rulership is greater than all of theirs together, being received from the rightful Source of all power and authority, Jehovah.—Rev. 13:1, 2; 2:26, 27; 12:5, 10.
The kings who fight against Jesus Christ try to ignore the information being proclaimed that he took his kingship in heaven when the Gentile Times ended in 1914. It is a fight over Sovereignty and the rulers do not want to give it up. They fight the Kingdom by fighting its announcers on earth. They try to legalize their fight against God’s Christian witnesses on earth, for they cannot meet Jesus Christ directly. They use various laws and try to twist them to apply to the preaching work of Jehovah’s witnesses. A case in point is the recent trial of forty-nine of Jehovah’s witnesses in Portugal who were arrested while peacefully studying
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