wars be termed jihads. That they were engaged in at Jehovah’s command is to be seen by the fact that time and again the victory was due to God’s miraculous intervention. (Josh. 10:11; Judg. 5:20; 1 Sam. 17:47; 2 Chron. 20:15) Besides, their wars were not fought for the purpose of expanding the kingdom of Israel to a world power. Centuries before, Jehovah had promised this land to the descendants of Abraham, and, as the Sovereign ruler of the universe as well as the earth, he had the right to give the land to whomsoever he would. (Gen. 12:7) So we read that David extended the limits of Israel to its God-ordained limits and neither David nor Solomon launched any wars to exceed those limits.

Further, Jehovah God made it plain to the Israelites that they were serving as his executioners, and that they were to wipe out these nations because of their wickedness, that this was not being done because they were so righteous, and that if they would themselves become wicked then Jehovah’s vengeance would be directed against them. While they were Jehovah’s executioners, Jehovah applied his same laws to them, even as modern lands expect a policeman to obey the law. Jehovah wiped out a wicked world in the day of Noah with a flood; he wiped out wicked cities such as Sodom and Gomorrah by fire coming down from heaven; he destroyed Egypt’s first-born by means of a plague, and he could use the nation of Israel to destroy his enemies by means of human warfare if he so chose. God tolerates the wicked until his due time to destroy them.—Deut. 9:4-6; Rom. 9:22.

Further, Jehovah’s actions against the enemies of his people back there were prophetic of his coming judgments. That is why his ‘battle of the great day’ is termed Armageddon. (Judg. 5:19; Ps. 83:1-18; Rev. 16:14, 16) When Christ Jesus came he definitely made an end of all use of carnal weapons by God’s servants, saying plainly: “All those who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matt. 26:52, NW) His followers engage in a spiritual war, using the sword of the spirit, God’s Word, and not carnal weapons. (2 Cor. 10:3, 4; Eph. 6:12-17, NW) They patiently wait upon Jehovah, for him to execute vengeance.—Zeph. 3:8; Rom. 12:19.

While what has been said in the foregoing may offend some, let it be noted that we cannot expect to arrive at the truth when we let our feelings rather than our reason govern our beliefs. God’s Word says, “Come now, and let us reason together.” (Isa. 1:18) That means to make comparisons, calmly and objectively weighing the facts and the arguments presented, and then being willing to pay the cost, for the truth will cost something. That is why we are counseled: “Buy the truth, and sell it not.”—Prov. 23:23.

Sucklings Surpass the Preacher

● From “Strength for the Day,” a column in the Dallas (Texas) Times Herald, March 21, 1953, comes this statement: “On a pleasant Sunday morning this past summer I attended a church service at a famous camp-meeting ground. This spot had been the scene of many inspiring religious convocations. On the morning I attended, there were about 200 people seated in an auditorium which could comfortably accommodate 1,500. Only two persons in the congregation appeared to be between the ages of 15 and 30. The minister preached a sermon on an academic theme and never came within a mile of the problems of all of us sinners who were seated in the pews. . . . Twelve children on the platform sang an anthem and did it so well that the heart of everyone was raised to heavenly heights. ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings’—but not out of the mouth of the preacher.”