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The Coming Finale of “the Book of the Wars of Jehovah”The Watchtower—1990 | July 1
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In the last chapter of the second-to-last book of the Hebrew Scriptures, an international attack against Jerusalem is foretold. (Zechariah 14:2)
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The Coming Finale of “the Book of the Wars of Jehovah”The Watchtower—1990 | July 1
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18, 19. Which Jerusalem will be the subject of an all-out attack by the nations?
18 This is a prospect yet ahead of us. But which Jerusalem will suffer such an all-out attack? The prophecy was not fulfilled upon the Jerusalem of Zechariah’s day. That city was destroyed by the armies of Rome in 70 C.E. Jerusalem was rebuilt, however, and today is viewed as sacred by Christendom as well as by the fleshly nation of Israel. In the six-day war of 1967, fleshly Israel took possession of all rebuilt earthly Jerusalem. However, there is not a shred of evidence that Jehovah God took any part in the fighting then. His enthroned King, Jesus Christ, does not reign in earthly Jerusalem, and it is no longer “the city of the great King,” that is, of Jehovah.—Matthew 5:35.
19 No, this official capital city of the Jewish member of the United Nations is not the Jerusalem mentioned in Zechariah’s prophecy. Rather, Zechariah is referring to the Jerusalem that we read about in the book of Hebrews. There, Paul addresses anointed Christians and says: “You have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels.” (Hebrews 12:22) This heavenly Jerusalem is none other than God’s Messianic Kingdom, represented on earth today by a small band of anointed Christians who cherish the hope of being fellow rulers with Jesus Christ in that Kingdom. These will be the object of the prophesied attack.
20. What words did King Hezekiah say to his threatened people to brace them up, and upon the words of what King greater than Hezekiah do Jehovah’s Witnesses today brace themselves?
20 Neither these, however, nor the great crowd of Christians with an earthly hope who have come out of all the nations to join them in pure worship need fear the outcome of this attack. When the fright-inspiring armies of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came against Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah, the endangered Israelites were given a calming view of the situation when King Hezekiah said to them: “With him there is an arm of flesh, but with us there is Jehovah our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The result was that “the people began to brace themselves upon the words of Hezekiah the king of Judah.” (2 Chronicles 32:8) Jehovah’s Witnesses of today, when threatened by the national forces of this world system, can brace themselves upon similar words from a king greater than Hezekiah, Jesus Christ.
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