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*Earth declares the glory of God kj chap. 16 pp. 308-311 A Shepherd-King for All Mankind *** 39 “And I will conclude with them a covenant of peace, and I shall certainly cause the injurious wild beast to cease out of the land, and they will actually dwell in the wilderness in security and sleep in the forests. And I will make them and the surroundings of my hill a blessing, and I will cause the pouring rain to descend in its time. Pouring rains of blessing there will prove to be. And the tree of the field must give its fruitage, and the land itself will give its yield, and they will actually prove to be on their soil in security. And they will have to know that I am Jehovah when I break the bars of their yoke and I have delivered them out of the hand of those who had been using them as slaves. And they will no longer become something to plunder for the nations; and as regards the wild beast of the earth, it will not devour them, and they will actually dwell in security, with no one to make them tremble.”—Ezekiel 34:25-28. 40 What a beautiful prophecy this is of the peace and security that prevail within the ranks and congregations of the anointed remnant of spiritual Israel, now joined by the “great crowd” of baptized sheeplike ones who are being gathered out of nations, tribes, peoples and tongues! According to Jehovah’s “covenant” for Christian peace, he has driven out and kept out all ferocious beastlike personalities dangerous to sheeplike Christians. By his holy spirit operating upon the true baptized disciples of Christ he has transformed their personalities into a peaceful, harmless sheeplikeness. They lovingly seek to protect one another spiritually as well as materially amidst this hostile world. The effect of this has been as predicted: They have come to know that the God who has broken the bars of their religious yoke of bondage and delivered them from their Babylonish enslavers is the one “whose name is Jehovah.” (Psalm 83:18) Little wonder, then, that they take delight in being his active, vocal witnesses. A PARADISAIC “PLANTING FOR A NAME” 41 Christendom will be uprooted and destroyed in the coming “great tribulation,” but the organization of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses is planted in the earth to remain through the present turbulent times and through the “great tribulation” in which the present worldwide system of things ends. This is the meaning of Jehovah’s words, when he says concerning restored spiritual Israel: “And I will raise up for them a planting for a name, and they will no more become those taken away by famine in the land, and they will no longer bear the humiliation by the nations. ‘And they will have to know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them and that they are my people, the house of Israel,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”—Ezekiel 34:29, 30. 42 In fulfillment of this divine promise, the modern-day remnant of spiritual Israel have been brought into a spiritual Paradise. (2 Corinthians 12:4) The “planting” that Jehovah has raised up for these restored ones has remained to this day and is producing more abundantly than ever previously since the year 1919. Under Jehovah’s blessings, like pouring rains, their earthly estate has brought forth superabundantly the “fruits” of the kingdom of God. (Matthew 21:43) This productive plantation has become “for them a planting for a name,” a renowned or famous plantation. Jehovah’s written Word, the Holy Bible, he has opened up to their understanding, and not only are they sharing the resulting spiritual food among themselves but, by means of millions on millions of pieces of printed literature, they are making this overflow of spiritual food available to all the nations possible in many languages. 43 This has resulted in their gaining a name earth wide as distributors of Bible literature. Opposed nations cannot halt or diminish this worldwide export of spiritual food by spiritual Israelites and thereby humiliate them by calling them famine-stricken. 44 Never again will the worldly nations be able to repeat what they did during World War I in banning and censoring the circulation of Jehovah’s kingdom message world wide so as to bring about the death of the remnant of spiritual Israel by spiritual famine. Whether by underground movement or by open above-ground distribution in broad daylight, the printed message of life issues forth in larger and larger volume, penetrating to the far corners of the earth to feed persons who are conscious of their spiritual need as regards the one living and true God. (Matthew 5:3) Due to their being blessed with such spiritual prosperity and overabundance of spiritual food, they have been made to know that Jehovah, the God whose name they bear, is with them and that they are his people, the spiritual “house of Israel,” “Because of walking with Jesus in all his ways” even though they are a small remnant in comparison with populous Christendom. 45 Who, then, of all the many religious people of the world are today the spiritual “sheep” of the Divine Shepherd, Jehovah, and under His “one shepherd,” Jesus Christ the Greater David? In speech straightforwardly addressed to the remnant of spiritual Israel, the Supreme Shepherd says: “‘And as regards you my sheep, the sheep of my pasturing, you are earthling men. I am your God,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”—Ezekiel 34:31. 46 The anointed remnant of spiritual Israel, restored to God’s favor since 1919, are manifestly living in the “year of good will on the part of Jehovah.” (Isaiah 61:1, 2) By making them “the sheep of my pasturing” he is treating them as His “men of good will,” concerning whom the angelic “multitude of the heavenly army” said at the time of Jesus’ birth in David’s city, Bethlehem: “Glory in the heights above to God, and upon earth peace among men of goodwill.”—Luke 2:10-14. 47 The “great crowd” that comes out of all nations, tribes and peoples discern that Jehovah has made choice of the remnant of spiritual Israelites and they likewise put themselves under his Shepherd-King Jesus Christ, as his “other sheep.” Despite their not being spiritual Israelites but coming from all earthly nations, tribes, peoples and tongues, they listen to the voice of the Fine Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and sheeplike they follow him as the “one shepherd” whom Jehovah has raised up over spiritual Israel. Why do they follow along with the remnant of spiritual Israel as “one flock” under “one shepherd”? It is because they know for a fact that Jesus Christ is Jehovah’s Shepherd-King for all mankind.—John 10:16; Revelation 7:9-17. |
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