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This Generation’s Disgusting AllianceThe Watchtower—1954 | July 15
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10. In what several features does Christendom’s case parallel the historical types of 607 B.C. and A.D. 70?
10 Many thousands are now fleeing there and finding that safety. Thousands more will yet come. Those lovers of righteousness who have not yet fled should remember the typical events of 607 B.C. and A.D. 70. As in those cases, Christendom has been warned of her sins, her political alliances, her fate from those political cronies, and she has rejected the warning. She has chosen Caesar governments instead of Christ—a disgusting thing that seals her desolation. She, like the Jews, has not discerned the time of her inspection and judgment. (Matt. 25:31, 32; Luke 19:44) She refuses to flee herself; she hinders those who would flee. She tried to make the faithful anointed remnant of the “Israel of God” permanent captives of Satan’s system, but Jehovah delivered the remnant. Now she tries to block the flight of men of good will. Those who do flee she accuses of being unpatriotic, of being seditious; and some she has killed. But she cannot halt the ingathering to the new system of things. Those fleeing to the symbolical mountains will remember what befell the Jews that delayed flight or tried to salvage worldly wealth, contrary to Jesus’ instructions. Without delay and without worldliness they will flee, appreciating that we now live in the urgent period parallel to 609-607 B.C. and A.D. 66-70. As Jehovah did then, so now he allows opportunity for flight. Seize it, now or never!
11. So how do Christians reason on the matter of religion in politics?
11 Christians cannot serve two masters, cannot be for both Satan’s world and Christ’s kingdom. (Matt. 6:24; Jas 1:27) The clergy say we are to blame for corrupt government by not voting; we say they share the blame by their voting. (1 Tim. 5:22) We must not enter politics to clean it up; we must escape its plagues by staying out. (Rev. 18:4) To shun politics puts us on the defensive before men; by entering it the clergy are on the defensive before God. For separateness we may be accused of sedition against Caesar, but for mixing in the clergy are guilty of adultery against God. Men are indignant when a wife wrongs her husband; they are indifferent when the clergy wrong God. Nevertheless, just as a wife in adultery means strife with her husband, so religion in politics means war with God. Fear God, not the world. It looks big if we face it alone. If we face it with God it is no more than a drop in the bucket, no more than a speck on the scales. And who is afraid of a drop of water, or scared of a speck of dust?
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Questions From ReadersThe Watchtower—1954 | July 15
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Questions From Readers
● Ezekiel 24:16, 17 states: “Neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead.” Yet on other occasions the Israelites mourned for the dead, with divine approval. So why does Jehovah forbid it in the text quoted above?—T. M., French Equatorial Africa.
Because it was a special case. To get the setting note the surrounding verses: “The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet thou shalt neither mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud, make no mourning for the dead; bind thy headtire upon thee, and put thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded. And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so? Then I said unto them, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword. And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away in your iniquities, and moan one toward another. Thus shall Ezekiel be unto you a sign; according to all that he hath done shall ye do: when this cometh, then shall ye know that I am the Lord Jehovah.”—Ezek. 24:15-24, AS.
Ezekiel’s wife may have been unfaithful to him or to Jehovah, and she was suddenly taken away by a divine judgment. Ezekiel was not to mourn or weep for her. Just opposite to Israelites generally, priests uncovered their heads in mourning; but Ezekiel, who was of a priestly family, was told to wear his turban. To remove the shoes and cover the lips indicated mourning. Mourners ate “the bread of men,” which was food sent to them by others that assumed the mourners were too preoccupied with their grief to provide for their physical needs. (Lev. 10:6; 21:1-3, 10; 2 Sam. 15:30; Mic. 3:7) None of these signs or evidences of mourning was Ezekiel to adopt. All of this was a sign to the Israelites then with him in Babylonian captivity. Jerusalem, and especially the sanctuary there, was the desire of their eyes; but Jehovah was going to profane it by allowing the city and the sanctuary to be demolished by the heathen Babylonians. Many of their close relatives in Jerusalem would be killed; the remainder would be taken captive. Yet the Israelites with Ezekiel in Babylon were not to mourn. Jerusalem had become unfaithful and the temple polluted and no repentance had been shown despite years of patient warning. So now this just judgment from Jehovah was not to be grieved against. Just punishment of the wicked should be accepted without mourning for the wrongdoers.
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