The Universal Court Case That Involves You

“‘Bring your controversial case forward,’ says Jehovah. ‘Produce your arguments.’”​—ISAIAH 41:21.

 1, 2. (a) Who is involved in the most crucial court case ever to be argued? (b) What is at issue?

THROUGHOUT history there have been countless court cases. In these, witnesses have been brought forth and evidence presented to contend for one side or the other. Many of these cases have involved individuals, while others have affected greater numbers of people. But all such cases pale into insignificance compared to the universal court case that is now being argued. It is by far the most crucial court case in history. Its results will affect every person on earth, whether he chooses to be involved or not.

² The central figure in this case is the highest personage in the universe, Jehovah God, “the Creator of the heavens and the Grand One stretching them out; the One laying out the earth and its produce, the One giving breath to the people on it.” (Isaiah 42:5) What is at issue? His godship is at issue​—the righteousness of his rulership of the entire universe, including the earth and its inhabitants. This can be called the issue of universal sovereignty.

 3. What questions are basic to the issue of universal sovereignty?

³ Basic to the issue are these questions: Which of all the gods worshiped have proved so trustworthy that you could stake your life and your future on them? Which have actually existed, and which have merely been human inventions? Is there a true, living, supreme God who can deliver mankind from its present desperate condition and bring about the right kind of government that will ensure genuine peace, security, prosperity, and health?

 4. What can be said of those who feel that there is no issue, since they say they already believe in God?

⁴ Many people feel that there is no issue for them, since they say that they already believe in God. But can they present evidence that the deity they worship is indeed the true God, that his promises are reliable, and that his purposes and laws guide their lives? If such people answer yes, then they should also be able to answer these questions: Just what is the evidence that there is a true God whose promises are reliable? What is God’s purpose for humankind and the earth? Where are we in God’s timetable, and what does the immediate future hold? What does he want us to do as individuals if we are to uphold him?

 5. To whom may people be likened when they do not produce evidence to support their belief in God?

⁵ Most people who say that they believe in God are unable to answer these questions authoritatively. Such ones may be likened to those who professed to believe in God in the first century but whose works belied their claim. Of them God’s Word states: “They publicly declare they know God, but they disown him by their works.” Yes, “faith without works is dead.” (Titus 1:16; James 2:26) Hence, those who say that they believe in God but cannot produce solid evidence to support it are in no way different from people of past centuries who believed in false gods that have long since disappeared as objects of worship.

Test Cases

 6, 7. (a) Describe the religion of the ancient Egyptians. (b) How were the Israelites involved in the issue between Jehovah and Egypt’s gods?

⁶ An example of this was the case brought against the gods of ancient Egypt about 1,500 years before our Common Era. The Egyptians worshiped a multitude of gods, including animals such as the bull, the cat, the cow, the crocodile, the falcon, the frog, the jackal, the lion, the serpent, the vulture, and the wolf. Many of these animals were considered to be incarnations of a god or goddess, and deliberately killing one brought the death penalty. Sacred animals were mummified and given elaborate burials.

⁷ Opposed to all those gods was the God whom ancient Israel worshiped, Jehovah. His representative, Moses, was sent to ask Pharaoh to release Jehovah’s people, who were then in slavery, since Jehovah had promised them their freedom. (Exodus 3:6-10) But Pharaoh declared: “Who is Jehovah, so that I should obey his voice to send Israel away? I do not know Jehovah at all and, what is more, I am not going to send Israel away.” (Exodus 5:2) Pharaoh felt confident that Egypt’s gods were superior to Jehovah.

 8, 9. (a) How did Jehovah prove his superiority over Egypt’s gods? (b) In view of what happened, what must be said of the gods of Egypt?

⁸ Who would prove to be the true God who was able to keep his promises and able to protect his people? The answer was soon to come. Jehovah foretold: “On all the gods of Egypt I shall execute judgments.” (Exodus 12:12) Did he fulfill that prophecy? Yes! Jehovah brought ten devastating plagues designed to humiliate Egypt’s gods. None of those gods could protect the Egyptians. And the tenth plague was especially significant, for it killed the Egyptian firstborn, including Pharaoh’s. This was a direct blow to their chief god Ra (Amon-Ra), since the rulers of Egypt considered themselves gods, the sons of Ra. To the Egyptians, the death of Pharaoh’s firstborn meant the death of a god.

⁹ However, not one Israelite firstborn was killed, as they had Jehovah’s protection. Too, God gave his people the freedom that he had promised them. And as a final blow to Egypt’s false gods, Pharaoh and his army​—every one of them—​were destroyed in the Red Sea. Thus, Jehovah proved to be the true God. His promises were the ones that were fulfilled, and his worshipers the ones that were protected. (Exodus 14:21-31) On the other hand, Egypt’s gods were powerless to help their worshipers. Those gods had not really existed at all but were the inventions of humans.

10. What issue confronted Jehovah’s worshipers and Assyria?

¹⁰ Another case involving godship came to the fore some eight centuries later, in the time of King Hezekiah.a Jehovah’s worshipers were being threatened by the ferocious Assyrian World Power that had conquered all nations in its path. Now it demanded the surrender of Jerusalem, the city that held “Jehovah’s throne,” representing his worship on earth. (1 Chronicles 29:23) Judah’s king, Hezekiah, acknowledged that the Assyrians ‘had devastated all those other lands and had consigned the gods of those lands to the fire because they were no gods, but the workmanship of man’s hands.’​—Isaiah 37:18, 19.

11. How did Jehovah rescue his worshipers, and what did this demonstrate?

¹¹ Faithful Hezekiah then prayed to Jehovah, asking for his protection. Jehovah promised that not one Assyrian weapon would strike Jerusalem. (Isaiah 37:33) True to that prophecy, not one did. Instead, “the angel of Jehovah proceeded to go forth and strike down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians.” After that crushing defeat, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, retreated. Later, when he was worshiping his god Nisroch, his sons assassinated him. (Isaiah 37:36-38) Thus Jehovah again proved to be the God of true prophecy who can deliver his worshipers. The gods of Assyria and the surrounding nations proved to be false, nonexistent, unable to protect their followers.

12. In what way did Belshazzar mock Jehovah?

¹² About two centuries later, God’s people, who had been unfaithful, were in captivity in Babylon, the next world power, Babylon. Its chief feature was its multitudes of gods, goddesses, and temples of worship. But in a boastful fit of ego, Babylonian king Belshazzar mocked Jehovah. At a huge feast, he ordered the sacred vessels that were captured from Jerusalem’s temple brought in. “From them the king and his grandees, his concubines and his secondary wives drank. They drank wine, and they praised the gods of gold and of silver, copper, iron, wood and stone.”​—Daniel 5:1-4.

13. What did Jehovah cause Daniel to say to Belshazzar?

¹³ This was a direct affront to Jehovah, a challenge to him in the name of Babylon’s gods. Jehovah then had his prophet Daniel boldly bear testimony to King Belshazzar and to all who were present at the feast. Daniel upheld Jehovah’s godship and told King Belshazzar: “You have not humbled your heart . . . But against the Lord of the heavens you exalted yourself, . . . and you have praised mere gods of silver and of gold, copper, iron, wood and stone, that are beholding nothing or hearing nothing or knowing nothing; but the God in whose hand your breath is and to whom all your ways belong you have not glorified.”​—Daniel 5:22, 23.

14. How did Jehovah demonstrate that he was the true God?

¹⁴ Then Daniel delivered Jehovah’s message, which was this: Arrogant King Belshazzar and Babylon would be overthrown by the Medes and the Persians that very night! (Daniel 5:24-27) Did this prophecy come true? Yes. “In that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed and Darius the Mede himself received the kingdom.” (Daniel 5:30, 31) Again, as with Egypt and Assyria, Jehovah proved to be the true God, the God who fulfills his promises. God’s servants benefited, for they were released from captivity and returned to their homeland. Those who persisted in following false gods came to disaster.

Prophecies for Our Time

15. (a) What feature do many Bible prophecies have? (b) To what do we also refer when we use the word “god”?

¹⁵ The prophet Isaiah was inspired to record prophecies that had a fulfillment back in ancient times. But often in Bible prophecy, there is another larger fulfillment having to do with our time. This was the case with many things that Isaiah wrote. Part of his message contained prophecies regarding Jehovah’s modern-day challenge to all the nations and their gods. And by the word “gods” we refer not only to the gods directly worshiped by people in all parts of the world, including so-called pagan nations today, but also to those things that fit the definition of that word. One dictionary definition of the word “god” is: “One controlling a particular aspect or part of reality; a person or thing of supreme value.”

16. What gods do people of the nations, including Christendom, worship today?

¹⁶ Those regarded as gods today include the millions of gods worshiped by Hindus, as well as those worshiped by Buddhists, Shintoists, animists, and other religionists. It also includes the god of materialism, the thing of supreme value for most people on earth, the main motivation in their lives. It also includes the gods of military might and science that the nations look to for security and salvation. Too, most people even in Christendom who say that they believe in God do not really trust him or loyally serve him, but instead they trust and serve people or things as their objects of primary loyalty.

17. To what does the greater fulfillment of Isaiah’s message point?

¹⁷ The greater fulfillment of Isaiah’s message is pointed to all such gods in our time. Jehovah tells national groups to collect themselves and “speak.” He challenges them: “Let us come up close together for the judgment itself.” (Isaiah 41:1) Today, we live in the “judgment” time for this world. It is in its “last days” as foretold at 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and Matthew 24:1-14. At this time Jehovah challenges the gods of the nations to foretell accurately the future and so prove that they are gods. He also challenges them to protect their adherents if they can. “Bring your controversial case forward,” he states. “Produce your arguments . . . and tell to us the things that are going to happen.”​—Isaiah 41:21, 22.

18. How does almighty God identify himself, and what does he promise his worshipers?

¹⁸ The almighty God identifies who he is: “I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8) And he tells those who uphold him: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not gaze about, for I am your God. I will fortify you. I will really help you.” He promises them: “All those getting heated up against you will become ashamed and be humiliated. The men in a quarrel with you will become as nothing and will perish.” “Any weapon whatever that will be formed against you will have no success . . . This is the hereditary possession of the servants of Jehovah.”​—Isaiah 41:10, 11; 54:17.

19, 20. (a) How does Isaiah show that there is an appointed time for Jehovah to settle matters? (b) Whom does Jehovah bring forth in these “last days,” and how do they represent him?

¹⁹ For a long time, for centuries, Jehovah has let the nations go their own ways. However, his appointed time for settling matters on earth has arrived. So he declares: “I have kept quiet for a long time. I continued silent. I kept exercising self-control.” But now, “like a mighty man Jehovah himself will go forth. Like a warrior he will awaken zeal. He will shout, yes, he will let out a war cry; over his enemies he will show himself mightier.” (Isaiah 42:13, 14) In the prophecies of Isaiah and other Bible writers, as well as those of Jesus, Jehovah foretells his raising up a people in these “last days” to bear zealous testimony to him, as if they were witnesses in a court case.

²⁰ The people that Jehovah brings forth to serve him present evidence that he is the true God, the Saver of his worshipers and the Destroyer of false gods and their adherents. Jehovah’s people today ‘sing his praises from the extremity of the earth, from all the nations and islands, from the top of the mountains.’ (Isaiah 42:10-12) This fulfills yet another prophecy of Isaiah that foretold: “In the final part of the days [in our time] . . . the mountain of the house of Jehovah [his true worship] will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills [above all other types of worship]; and to it [people from] all the nations must stream.” And what do they urge others to do? They entreat honesthearted ones: “Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, . . . and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”​—Isaiah 2:2-4.

21. What questions are raised by Jehovah’s challenge to the gods of the nations?

²¹ Thus, as though addressing a court, Jehovah says: “Let the nations all be collected together at one place, and let national groups be gathered together. . . . Let them furnish their witnesses, that they may be declared righteous, or let them hear and say, ‘It is the truth!’” (Isaiah 43:9) This is a direct challenge to the gods of the nations. Can any of them tell what is in the future? Were they able to do this in the past? Can they find anyone to bear witness with solid evidence that such gods have proved to be true, worthy of our loyalty? What record have the gods of the nations, and their followers, produced in our time? Has it been any better than what the gods of the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians produced? On the other hand, have those who bear witness to Jehovah produced solid evidence that Jehovah is the true God, the only One worthy of our worship? The following article will discuss these matters.

[Footnotes]

Will You Be a Witness for the True God?

“‘You are my witnesses,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I am God.’”​—ISAIAH 43:12.

 1. Why should we honor the true God?

SHORTLY before Jesus died, he ‘raised his eyes to heaven’ to pray. He addressed the One to whom he was praying as “the only true God.” (John 17:1, 3) Reasonably, there can be only one living and true God, the Sovereign of the universe, the Creator. Since we owe our existence to the true God, we should render him the honor that he deserves. As Revelation 4:11 expresses it: “You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.”

 2. (a) What is it logical to believe about the true God? (b) How does he communicate with those who want to worship him?

² It would be logical to expect that the true God would not forever tolerate the bad conditions that have marred his earthly creations. And it would also be logical to believe that he would keep his worshipers informed as to what he will do and what he wants them to do before he executes his judgments. (Amos 3:7) How does he communicate with truth seekers? He uses willing humans as his spokesmen. “‘You are my witnesses,’ is the utterance of Jehovah . . . ‘Before me there was no God formed, and after me there continued to be none. I​—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.’” (Isaiah 43:10, 11) But how can a person identify those whom the true God uses as his witnesses? How do they, and their message, contrast with worshipers of other gods?

A Challenge to Other Gods

 3. What challenge does Jehovah issue to all other gods?

³ Jehovah inspired Isaiah to record this challenge to all other gods: “Who is there among them [the gods of the nations and peoples] that can tell this [accurate prophecy]? Or can they cause us to hear even the first things [that will happen in the future]? Let them [as gods] furnish their witnesses, that they [as gods] may be declared righteous, or let them [the peoples of the nations] hear and say, ‘It is the truth!’” (Isaiah 43:9) Thus Jehovah challenges all the gods that people worship to prove that they are gods. Their witnesses should produce evidence that their gods are reliable and worthy of being worshiped.

 4. How do we know that the gods of ancient nations were valueless?

⁴ But what have those gods and their worshipers produced? Have they led us to genuine peace, prosperity, health, and life? History testifies that the many gods of ancient nations proved valueless and powerless. They could not even survive as objects of worship, since they are not in existence today. The many gods of ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and other nations proved false. They exist only in history books or in museums where statues of them are mere objects of curiosity.

 5. What may we ask about the gods of modern times?

⁵ Yet, are the modern gods and their worshipers any better than the ancient ones? The Hindu religion alone has millions of gods. Buddhists, Catholics, Confucianists, Jews, Protestants, Shintoists, Taoists, and many others have their own gods. In Africa, Asia, and elsewhere, the forces of nature, animals, and objects are worshiped as gods. Nationalism and materialism, and even a person’s self, have become gods, in that many people give them their main devotion. Which way of worship actually represents the one who declares: “I am Jehovah, and there is no one else. With the exception of me there is no God”?​—Isaiah 45:5.

“By Their Fruits You Will Recognize Them”

 6. How can we distinguish true worship from false worship?

⁶ Jesus laid down a dependable rule for identifying what is true or false in regard to religion. He said: “By their fruits you will recognize them. . . . Every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit . . . Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:16-19) Thus, to determine the true God from false ones, and true worshipers from false ones, we need to examine what they produce. Is their fruitage “fine,” or is it “worthless”?

 7. What does the history of this century tell us about the religions of this world?

⁷ For example, which of the world’s religions has established genuine peace among its adherents earth wide? Surely, members of the true religion, spiritual brothers, should not be killing one another. But a hundred million people have been killed in the wars of this 20th century, and all those wars have been supported by the religions of this world. As a result, religious people have killed other religious people. Much of the time, they have killed people of their own religion. Catholics have killed Catholics, Protestants have killed Protestants, Muslims have killed Muslims, and those of other religions have followed the same course.

 8. How do observers comment on religious failure in our time?

⁸ In an editorial entitled “The Violence Done in God’s Name,” Mike Royko, as if addressing God, said of this world’s religions: “They are expressing their devotion to you by killing each other by the hundreds. I guess they figure that if one side can wipe the other side out, it will prove that their way of worshiping you is correct.” He said that while the pope portrays himself as a peaceful man, “his followers have been known to shed a few million gallons of blood when their tempers are up.” Too, when former United States President Carter observed that “the world has gone mad,” he said: “Deep religious conviction, which should bind people in love, seems often to be part of the madness and murder.”

 9. Why should we not follow “valueless gods”?

⁹ Such worthless fruitage is the opposite of what must be produced by those who worship the true God. (Galatians 5:19-23) Hence, those who support warring religions and philosophies are part of false worship as surely as were the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and others who looked to “valueless gods that are speechless.” (Habakkuk 2:18) And just as the true God’s prophetic word was fulfilled on ancient false worship, so it will be in our time: “The valueless gods themselves will pass away completely.” (Isaiah 2:18) Trustworthy is his warning: “Do not turn yourselves to valueless gods.”​—Leviticus 19:4.

Who Are Witnessing for Jehovah?

10. Are the adherents of this world’s religions witnesses for the true God?

¹⁰ A witness for the true God should be one who bears testimony about Him. Do the adherents of this world’s religions bear such testimony? How often do people of these religions talk to you about their worship? When have they called at your home to bear witness about their god? The challenge that the true God has issued to false ones to produce witnesses goes unheeded. The people of this world’s religions do not bear such witness. They cannot tell you who the true God is or what his purposes are. Their clergy have failed to teach them the truth. “Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”​—Matthew 15:14.

11. Who only are bearing witness to the name of the true God?

¹¹ Who are willing to sacrifice time, material resources, even their lives, to witness for the true God? Who tell people that the true God declares: “I am Jehovah. That is my name”? (Isaiah 42:8) Who teach that “you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth”? (Psalm 83:18) In his time, Jesus could say to the true God: “I have made your name manifest.” (John 17:6) In our time, only Jehovah’s Witnesses can say that. How appropriate their name is​—Jehovah’s Witnesses!

Witnessing About the Kingdom

12. What vital teaching must true witnesses be telling others?

¹² In addition to making known the true God’s name, what, especially, would his witnesses be saying about his purposes? Jesus set the example by teaching his followers to pray to the true God: “Let your kingdom come.” (Matthew 6:10) God’s heavenly Kingdom is the government that will ultimately rule the entire earth. (Daniel 2:44) It was the theme of Jesus’ teaching. (Matthew 4:23) Because the Kingdom is the only solution for mankind’s troubles, he urged: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness.”​—Matthew 6:33.

13. (a) What do the facts show about the preaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding God’s Kingdom? (b) How is the Kingdom preaching an evidence that Jehovah is the only God of true prophecy?

¹³ Who today bear testimony for God’s Kingdom? Professor C. S. Braden, a keen student of the world’s religions, said: “Jehovah’s Witnesses have literally covered the earth with their witnessing. . . . It may be truly said that no single religious group in the world displayed more zeal and persistence in the attempt to spread the good news of the Kingdom than Jehovah’s Witnesses.” But he wrote that nearly 40 years ago! Today a far greater Kingdom witness is being accomplished, for there are more than ten times as many Witnesses now! Some three-and-a-half million of them, in over 54,900 congregations earth wide, are testifying for the Kingdom, and their numbers are rapidly growing. This fine fruitage is evidence that Jehovah is the God of true prophecy. He it was who inspired his Son, Jesus, to foretell concerning our time: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”​—Matthew 24:14; John 8:28.

Imitating God’s Love

14. What quality must God’s true witnesses imitate, and what does it mean if they do not?

¹⁴ The true witnesses of God must imitate his foremost quality​—love. “He that does not love has not come to know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8) Indeed, “the children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. . . . We should have love for one another; not like Cain, who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother.”​—1 John 3:10-12.

15. Why can we say that Jehovah’s Witnesses manifest genuine love?

¹⁵ Jehovah’s Witnesses alone have that kind of love. They do not submit to the gods of war, nationalism, and racism. They do not support any wars of this world and so are never in a situation where they would support the killing of their spiritual brothers in other parts of the world. They are, as Jesus said, “no part of the world” and have ‘put down the sword.’​—John 17:14; Matthew 26:52.

16. How do others help identify the true witnesses of God?

¹⁶ A study entitled “More About Justifying Violence” said: “Jehovah’s Witnesses have consistently maintained their stand of nonviolent ‘Christian neutrality’ . . . Their continuing stand against national service of any form, military or civilian, and their refusal to honor symbols of national identity have resulted in periods of prosecution, imprisonment, and mob action in many countries . . . The Witnesses, however, have never responded with violence.” The Brazilian newspaper O Tempo said of them: “Although there are many imposing religions with their propaganda in all parts of the globe, there does not exist a single one on the face of the earth today that shows the same love.” This genuine love, Jesus declared, identifies the true witnesses of God. “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”​—John 13:35.

Persecution Increases Witness

17, 18. What recent example shows how persecution can add to the Kingdom witness?

¹⁷ Persecution can even result in a wider Kingdom witness. For example, in India there are only some 8,000 witnesses of Jehovah. Yet, recently Jehovah’s name and purposes were given extensive publicity in that land by what 11 Witness children did in imitation of first-century Christians who said to a court: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) The Indian children had been expelled from school for not singing the national anthem. But India’s Supreme Court ruled, as reported in the Deccan Herald of Bangalore, that “there is no obligation in this country to sing the National Anthem.” The Court noted that the children “had shown proper respect” and that their not singing “did not in any way amount to insubordination.” The Court ordered that the children be readmitted to school.

¹⁸ The same newspaper also observed: “These children refused to sing the National Anthem because Jehovah’s Witnesses consider themselves to be Christians and devoted entirely to the Kingdom of God. . . . They therefore do not participate in any of the political activity of the State.” Also, The Telegraph of Calcutta reported: “The schoolchildren’s action has also brought into the limelight . . . Jehovah’s Witnesses, which had remained largely obscure in our country till recently.” Yes, ‘this good news of the kingdom will be preached for a witness to all the nations’ before the end comes.​—Matthew 24:14.

Ingathering of Witnesses for the True God

19. What do honesthearted persons need to do if they want to worship the true God?

¹⁹ Today, the true God, Jehovah, is having his people bear witness to his sovereignty and purposes. As they proclaim his message with ever greater force, he gathers increasing numbers of honesthearted people from all nations into association with his worshipers. (Isaiah 2:2-4) They abandon their false gods and turn to the worship of the true God, just as those who wanted to worship Jehovah were released from captivity to ancient Babylon, where the worship of false gods was rampant.​—Isaiah 43:14.

20, 21. Why is it urgent to abandon false gods now and not be mere bystanders?

²⁰ Will you be a witness for the true God? Will you take your stand for true worship and avoid sharing the bloodguilt and moral culpability of this world and its false gods? God’s Word urges: “Get out of her [Babylonish false worship], my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4) Yes, “get out,” take action before it is too late! Do not be like the man who, when asked about his religious preference by a Catholic magazine, said: “I guess I’m a Jehovah’s Bystander. I believe pretty much what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe​—but I don’t want to get involved.”

²¹ However, every person on earth will soon be involved when Jehovah executes the false gods of this world and their worshipers: “The gods that did not make the very heavens and the earth are the ones who will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.” (Jeremiah 10:11) There will be no bystanders then. There will only be those who are witnesses for the true God and those who are not. (Matthew 24:37-39; 2 Peter 2:5; Revelation 7:9-15) Will you be a witness for the true God? You should be, for “the true God is for us a God of saving acts; and to Jehovah the Sovereign Lord belong the ways out from death.”​—Psalm 68:20.