DOES GOD SUPPORT WARS TODAY?

CONCERNING his role as a warrior, King David of ancient Israel said: “[God] is teaching my hands for warfare, and my arms have pressed down a bow of copper.”—Psalm 18:34.

In regard to Christians, the apostle Paul wrote: “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly.”—2 Corinthians 10:3, 4.

Do those texts contradict each other? Or are there valid reasons why God approved of ancient Israel’s going to war but disapproved of Christians’ doing so? Has God’s view of warfare changed? The answers become clear when we consider three major differences between Israel and the true Christian congregation.

Three Significant Differences

1. Ancient Israel was a nation with God-given geographical borders, and it was surrounded by neighbors who were often hostile. Therefore, God commanded his people to protect their land, even giving them victories over their enemies. (Judges 11:32, 33) The Christian congregation, on the other hand, has no borders, and its members can be found in all lands. So if Christ’s followers in one country were to join in warfare against another country, they would be fighting against fellow believers—their spiritual brothers and sisters—whom they are commanded to love and even die for.—Matthew 5:44; John 15:12, 13.

2. Ancient Israel had a human king whose throne was in Jerusalem. True Christians, however, are ruled by Jesus Christ, now a powerful spirit creature whose throne is in heaven. (Daniel 7:13, 14) Jesus himself said: “My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source.” (John 18:36) Thus, no political kingdom, or rulership, on earth can claim to belong to Christ. What bearing does this have on Jesus’ “attendants,” or followers? The third point explains.

3. Ancient Israel, like other nations, often sent out messengers, or what we today might call ambassadors or envoys. (2 Kings 18:13-15; Luke 19:12-14) Christ has done the same, but with two key differences. First, all his followers serve as ambassadors or envoys. Thus, the apostle Paul could write on behalf of his fellow Christians: “We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) As peaceful ambassadors, they did not take up arms. Second, Jesus’ followers speak to all who will listen to their message. Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” (Matthew 24:14) He also said: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.”—Matthew 28:19, 20.

Sadly, Christ’s attendants do not always receive a warm welcome. For this reason Paul wrote to the Christian evangelizer Timothy: “As a fine soldier of Christ Jesus take your part in suffering evil.” (2 Timothy 2:3) Timothy’s weapons, of course, were of a spiritual nature and included God’s written Word, which is called “the sword of the spirit.”—Ephesians 6:11-17.

Why the Change From Israel to the Christian Congregation?

For some 1,500 years, the nation of Israel enjoyed a special relationship with God, one that was based on a covenant, or contract. (Exodus 19:5) That covenant, mediated by Moses, included the Ten Commandments and other laws, all of which promoted true worship and high moral standards. (Exodus 19:3, 7, 9; 20:1-17) Sadly, though, Israel as a whole became unfaithful to God, even to the point of killing his prophets.—2 Chronicles 36:15, 16; Luke 11:47, 48.

Finally, Jehovah sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who was born a Jew. Instead of welcoming him as the Messiah, the Jewish nation as a whole rejected him. As a result, God terminated his long-standing covenant with Israel, and the figurative wall that separated Jew from non-Jew came down. (Ephesians 2:13-18; Colossians 2:14) At about the same time, God established the Christian congregation, appointing Jesus as its Head. Moreover, before the end of the first century, that congregation became truly multinational. “In every nation the man that fears [God] and works righteousness is acceptable to him,” stated the Jewish apostle Peter.—Acts 10:35.

Jehovah’s Witnesses model themselves after the early Christians. Hence, the Witnesses are known for their public ministry and their neutrality toward politics and carnal warfare. (Matthew 26:52; Acts 5:42) Yes, they let nothing distract them from announcing the good news of God’s Kingdom, the only government that will eradicate evil and bring lasting peace to the earth. With that precious hope in mind, the apostle Paul wrote: “As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Those words carry an even greater sense of urgency today, for we are nearing the end of “the last days” of the present wicked world.—2 Timothy 3:1-5.

[Footnote]

The term “Jew” initially applied to a person belonging to the Israelite tribe of Judah. Later, the name was applied to all Hebrews.—Ezra 4:12.

HAVE YOU WONDERED?

● What outstanding quality are Christians to show toward one another?—John 13:34, 35.

● What is a true Christian’s primary “weapon”?—Ephesians 6:17.

● Christ’s representatives announce what important message?—Matthew 24:14; 2 Corinthians 5:20.

 

Jehovah’s Witnesses make up a multinational brotherhood and maintain neutrality in the wars of the nations

 

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SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE---DO THEY REALLY CONTRADICT EACH OTHER?

THE seeds of the clash between Galileo and the Catholic Church were sown centuries before Copernicus and Galileo were born. The earth-centered, or geocentric, view of the universe was adopted by the ancient Greeks and made famous by the philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) and the astronomer-astrologer Ptolemy (second century C.E.).

Aristotle’s concept of the universe was influenced by the thinking of Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras (sixth century B.C.E.). Adopting Pythagoras’ view that the circle and sphere were perfect shapes, Aristotle believed that the heavens were a series of spheres within spheres, like layers of an onion. Each layer was made of crystal, with the earth at the center. Stars moved in circles, deriving their motion from the outermost sphere, the seat of divine power. Aristotle also held that the sun and other celestial objects were perfect, free of any marks or blemishes and not subject to change.

Aristotle’s great scheme was a child of philosophy, not science. A moving earth, he felt, would violate common sense. He also rejected the idea of a void, or space, believing that a moving earth would be subject to friction and would grind to a halt without the application of constant force. Because Aristotle’s concept seemed logical within the framework of existing knowledge, it endured in its basic form for almost 2,000 years. Even as late as the 16th century, French philosopher Jean Bodin expressed that popular view, stating: “No one in his senses, or imbued with the slightest knowledge of physics, will ever think that the earth, heavy and unwieldy . . . , staggers . . . around its own center and that of the sun; for at the slightest jar of the earth, we would see cities and fortresses, towns and mountains thrown down.”

Aristotle Adopted by the Church

A further step leading to the confrontation between Galileo and the church occurred in the 13th century and involved Catholic authority Thomas Aquinas (1225-74). Aquinas had a profound respect for Aristotle, whom he referred to as The Philosopher. Aquinas struggled for five years to fuse Aristotle’s philosophy with church teaching. By the time of Galileo, says Wade Rowland in his book Galileo’s Mistake, “the hybridized Aristotle in the theology of Aquinas had become bedrock dogma of the Church of Rome.” Keep in mind, too, that in those days there was no scientific community as such. Education was largely in the hands of the church. The authority on religion and science was often one and the same.

The stage was now set for the confrontation between the church and Galileo. Even before his involvement with astronomy, Galileo had written a treatise on motion. It challenged many assumptions made by the revered Aristotle. However, it was Galileo’s steadfast promotion of the heliocentric concept and his assertion that it harmonizes with Scripture that led to his trial by the Inquisition in 1633.

In his defense, Galileo affirmed his strong faith in the Bible as the inspired Word of God. He also argued that the Scriptures were written for ordinary people and that Biblical references to the apparent movement of the sun were not to be interpreted literally. His arguments were futile. Because Galileo rejected an interpretation of Scripture based on Greek philosophy, he stood condemned! Not until 1992 did the Catholic Church officially admit to error in its judgment of Galileo.

Lessons to Be Learned

What can we learn from these events? For one thing, Galileo had no quarrel with the Bible. Instead, he questioned the teachings of the church. One religion writer observed: “The lesson to be learned from Galileo, it appears, is not that the Church held too tightly to biblical truths; but rather that it did not hold tightly enough.” By allowing Greek philosophy to influence its theology, the church bowed to tradition rather than follow the teachings of the Bible.

All of this calls to mind the Biblical warning: “Look out: perhaps there may be someone who will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.”—Colossians 2:8.

Even today, many in Christendom continue to embrace theories and philosophies that contradict the Bible. One example is Darwin’s theory of evolution, which they have accepted in place of the Genesis account of creation. In making this substitution, the churches have, in effect, made Darwin a modern-day Aristotle and evolution an article of faith.

True Science Harmonizes With the Bible

The foregoing should in no way discourage an interest in science. To be sure, the Bible itself invites us to learn from God’s handiwork and to discern God’s amazing qualities in what we see. (Isaiah 40:26; Romans 1:20) Of course, the Bible does not claim to teach science. Rather, it reveals God’s standards, aspects of his personality that creation alone cannot teach, and his purpose for humans. (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16) Yet, when the Bible does refer to natural phenomena, it is consistently accurate. Galileo himself said: “Both the Holy Scriptures and nature proceed from the Divine Word . . . Two truths can never contradict one another.” Consider the following examples.

Even more fundamental than the movement of stars and planets is that all matter in the universe is governed by laws, such as the law of gravity. The earliest known non-Biblical reference to physical laws was made by Pythagoras, who believed that the universe could be explained by numbers. Two thousand years later, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton finally proved that matter is governed by rational laws.

The earliest Biblical reference to natural law is contained in the book of Job. About 1600 B.C.E., God asked Job: “Have you come to know the statutes [or, laws] of the heavens?” (Job 38:33) Recorded in the seventh century B.C.E., the book of Jeremiah refers to Jehovah as the Creator of “the statutes of the moon and the stars” and “the statutes of heaven and earth.” (Jeremiah 31:35; 33:25) In view of these statements, Bible commentator G. Rawlinson observed: “The general prevalence of law in the material world is quite as strongly asserted by the sacred writers as by modern science.”

If we use Pythagoras as a point of reference, the statement in Job was about a thousand years ahead of its time. Keep in mind that the Bible’s objective is not simply to reveal physical facts but primarily to impress upon us that Jehovah is the Creator of all things—the one who can create physical laws.—Job 38:4, 12; 42:1, 2.

Another example we can consider is that the earth’s waters undergo a cyclic motion called the water cycle, or the hydrologic cycle. Put simply, water evaporates from the sea, forms clouds, precipitates onto the land, and eventually returns to the sea. The oldest surviving non-Biblical references to this cycle are from the fourth century B.C.E. However, Biblical statements predate that by hundreds of years. For example, in the 11th century B.C.E., King Solomon of Israel wrote: “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, to there and from there they return again.”—Ecclesiastes 1:7, The Amplified Bible.

Likewise, about 800 B.C.E. the prophet Amos, a humble shepherd and farmworker, wrote that Jehovah is “the One calling for the waters of the sea, that he may pour them out upon the surface of the earth.” (Amos 5:8) Without using complex, technical language, both Solomon and Amos accurately described the water cycle, each from a slightly different perspective.

The Bible also speaks of God as “hanging the earth upon nothing,” or he “suspends earth in the void,” according to The New English Bible. (Job 26:7) In view of the knowledge available in 1600 B.C.E., roughly when those words were spoken, it would have taken a remarkable man to assert that a solid object can remain suspended in space without any physical support. As previously mentioned, Aristotle himself rejected the concept of a void, and he lived over 1,200 years later!

Does it not strike you as amazing that the Bible makes such accurate statements—even in the face of the erroneous yet seemingly commonsense perceptions of the day? To thinking people, this is one more evidence of the Bible’s divine inspiration. We are wise, therefore, not to be easily swayed by any teaching or theory that contradicts God’s Word. As history has repeatedly shown, human philosophies, even those of towering intellects, come and go, whereas “the saying of Jehovah endures forever.”—1 Peter 1:25.

[Footnotes]

In the third century B.C.E., a Greek named Aristarchus of Samos put forth the hypothesis that the sun is at the center of the cosmos, but his ideas were dismissed in favor of Aristotle’s.

For an in-depth discussion on this topic, see chapter 15, “Why Do Many Accept Evolution?” in the book Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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THE AWESOME UNIVERSE

 

What the Big Bang Explains—What It Doesn’t

EVERY morning is a miracle. Deep inside the morning sun, hydrogen is being fused into helium at temperatures of millions of degrees. X rays and gamma rays of incredible violence are pouring out of the core into the surrounding layers of the sun. If the sun were transparent, these rays would blast their way to the surface in a few searing seconds. Instead, they begin to bounce from tightly packed atom to atom of solar “insulation,” gradually losing energy. Days, weeks, centuries, pass. Thousands of years later, that once deadly radiation finally emerges from the sun’s surface as a gentle shower of yellow light—no longer a menace but just right for bathing earth with its warmth.

Every night is a miracle too. Other suns twinkle at us across the vast expanse of our galaxy. They are a riot of colors, sizes, temperatures, and densities. Some are supergiants so large that if one were centered in the position of our sun, what remained of our planet would be inside the surface of that superstar. Other suns are tiny, white dwarfs—smaller than our earth, yet as heavy as our sun. Some will peacefully drone along for billions of years. Others are poised on the brink of supernova explosions that will obliterate them, briefly outshining entire galaxies.

Primitive peoples spoke of sea monsters and battling gods, of dragons and turtles and elephants, of lotus flowers and dreaming gods. Later, during the so-called Age of Reason, the gods were swept aside by the newfound “magic” of calculus and Newton’s laws. Now we live in an age bereft of the old poetry and legend. The children of today’s atomic age have chosen as their paradigm for creation, not the ancient sea monster, not Newton’s “machine,” but that overarching symbol of the 20th century—the bomb. Their “creator” is an explosion. They call their cosmic fireball the big bang.

What the Big Bang “Explains”

The most popular version of this generation’s view of creation states that some 15 to 20 billion years ago, the universe did not exist, nor did empty space. There was no time, no matter—nothing except an infinitely dense, infinitely small point called a singularity, which exploded into the present universe. That explosion included a brief period during the first tiny fraction of a second when the infant universe inflated, or expanded, much faster than the speed of light.

During the first few minutes of the big bang, nuclear fusion took place on a universal scale, giving rise to the currently measured concentrations of hydrogen and helium and at least part of the lithium in interstellar space. After perhaps 300,000 years, the universewide fireball dropped to a little below the temperature of the surface of the sun, allowing electrons to settle into orbits around atoms and releasing a flash of photons, or light. That primordial flash can be measured today, although greatly cooled off, as universal background radiation at microwave frequencies corresponding to a temperature of 2.7 Kelvin. In fact, it was the discovery of this background radiation in 1964-65 that convinced most scientists that there was something to the big bang theory. The theory also claims to explain why the universe appears to be expanding in all directions, with distant galaxies apparently racing away from us and from each other at high speed.

Since the big bang theory appears to explain so much, why doubt it? Because there is also much that it does not explain. To illustrate: The ancient astronomer Ptolemy had a theory that the sun and planets went around the earth in large circles, making small circles, called epicycles, at the same time. The theory appeared to explain the motion of the planets. For centuries as astronomers gathered more data, the Ptolemaic cosmologists could always add extra epicycles onto their other epicycles and “explain” the new data. But that did not mean the theory was correct. Ultimately there was just too much data to account for, and other theories, such as Copernicus’ idea that the earth went around the sun, explained things better and more simply. Today it is hard to find a Ptolemaic astronomer!

Professor Fred Hoyle likened the efforts of the Ptolemaic cosmologists at patching up their failing theory in the face of new discoveries to the endeavors of big bang believers today to keep their theory afloat. He wrote in his book The Intelligent Universe: “The main efforts of investigators have been in papering over contradictions in the big bang theory, to build up an idea which has become ever more complex and cumbersome.” After referring to Ptolemy’s futile use of epicycles to rescue his theory, Hoyle continued: “I have little hesitation in saying that as a result a sickly pall now hangs over the big bang theory. As I have mentioned earlier, when a pattern of facts becomes set against a theory, experience shows that it rarely recovers.”—Page 186.

The New Scientist magazine of December 22/29, 1990, echoed similar thoughts: “The Ptolemaic method has been lavishly applied to . . . the big bang cosmological model.” It then asks: “How can we achieve real progress in particle physics and cosmology? . . . We must be more honest and forthright about the purely speculative nature of some of our most cherished assumptions.” New observations are now pouring in.

Questions the Big Bang Does Not Answer

A major challenge to the big bang has come from observers using the corrected optics of the Hubble Space Telescope to measure distances to other galaxies. The new data is giving the theorists fits!

Astronomer Wendy Freedman and others recently used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the distance to a galaxy in the constellation of Virgo, and her measurement suggests that the universe is expanding faster, and therefore is younger, than previously thought. In fact, it “implies a cosmic age as little as eight billion years,” reported Scientific American magazine just last June. While eight billion years sounds like a very long time, it is only about half the currently estimated age of the universe. This creates a special problem, since, as the report goes on to note, “other data indicate that certain stars are at least 14 billion years old.” If Freedman’s numbers hold up, those elderly stars would turn out to be older than the big bang itself!

Still another problem for the big bang has come from steadily mounting evidence of “bubbles” in the universe that are 100 million light-years in size, with galaxies on the outside and voids inside. Margaret Geller, John Huchra, and others at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have found what they call a great wall of galaxies some 500 million light-years in length across the northern sky. Another group of astronomers, who became known as the Seven Samurai, have found evidence of a different cosmic conglomeration, which they call the Great Attractor, located near the southern constellations of Hydra and Centaurus. Astronomers Marc Postman and Tod Lauer believe something even bigger must lie beyond the constellation Orion, causing hundreds of galaxies, including ours, to stream in that direction like rafts on a sort of “river in space.”

All this structure is baffling. Cosmologists say the blast from the big bang was extremely smooth and uniform, according to the background radiation it allegedly left behind. How could such a smooth start have led to such massive and complex structures? “The latest crop of walls and attractors intensifies the mystery of how so much structure could have formed within the 15-billion-year age of the universe,” admits Scientific American—a problem that only gets worse as Freedman and others roll back the estimated age of the cosmos still more.

“We Are Missing Some Fundamental Element”

Geller’s three-dimensional maps of thousands of clumped, tangled, and bubbled galactic agglomerations have transformed the way scientists picture the universe. She does not pretend to understand what she sees. Gravity alone appears unable to account for her great wall. “I often feel we are missing some fundamental element in our attempts to understand this structure,” she admits.

Geller enlarged on her misgivings: “We clearly do not know how to make large structure in the context of the Big Bang.” Interpretations of cosmic structure on the basis of current mapping of the heavens are far from definitive—more like trying to picture the whole world from a survey of Rhode Island, U.S.A. Geller continued: “Someday we may find that we haven’t been putting the pieces together in the right way, and when we do, it will seem so obvious that we’ll wonder why we hadn’t thought of it much sooner.”

That leads to the biggest question of all: What is supposed to have caused the big bang itself? No less an authority than Andrei Linde, one of the originators of the very popular inflationary version of the big bang theory, frankly admits that the standard theory does not address this fundamental question. “The first, and main, problem is the very existence of the big bang,” he says. “One may wonder, What came before? If space-time did not exist then, how could everything appear from nothing? . . . Explaining this initial singularity—where and when it all began—still remains the most intractable problem of modern cosmology.”

An article in Discover magazine recently concluded that “no reasonable cosmologist would claim that the Big Bang is the ultimate theory.”

Let us now go outdoors and contemplate the beauty and the mystery of the starry vault.

[Footnote]

A kelvin is the unit of a temperature scale whose degree is the same as the degree on the Celsius temperature scale, except that the Kelvin scale begins at absolute zero, that is 0 K.—the equivalent of -273.16 degrees Celsius. Water freezes at 273.16 K. and boils at 373.16 K.

 

The Light-Year—A Cosmic Yardstick

  The universe is so big that measuring it in miles or kilometers is like measuring the distance from London to Tokyo with a micrometer. A more convenient unit of measurement is the light-year, the distance that light travels in a year, or about 5,880,000,000,000 miles [9,460,000,000,000 km]. Since light is the fastest thing in the universe and requires only 1.3 seconds to travel to the moon and about 8 minutes to the sun, a light-year would seem to be truly enormous!

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DOES GOD CARE ABOUT ANIMALS?

The Bible’s Viewpoint

 ANIMAL life is in peril. Many scientists believe extinction of animal species is taking place at an accelerated rate. Animals are suffering the devastating consequences of human encroachment. Industrial food production, cruel blood sports, and callous abandonment of pets add to this grim picture.

Some feel, however, that such a picture is the inevitable price of human progress. But is that what God intended? Has he abandoned animal creation to suffer at the hands of humans? How do we know that God cares about animals?

Care Evident From the Start

After God’s creation of fish, birds, and land animals, God was pleased. The Bible says that he “got to see that it was good.” (Genesis 1:21, 25) All those creatures, from the smallest to the largest, had the Creator’s loving concern. God not only created them “instinctively wise” but also made provisions for them to flourish in their environment. As a Bible writer aptly stated: “All of them—for you they keep waiting to give them their food in its season. What you give them they pick up. You open your hand—they get satisfied with good things.”—Proverbs 30:24; Psalm 104:24, 25, 27, 28.

True, God made animals subject to the first man, Adam. They were not designed with reasoning ability or the capacity for spirituality. (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 19) In contrast, Adam was a higher life-form, created “in God’s image.” He was able to reflect the personality of his Creator, Jehovah. (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 83:18) But this did not give humans license to exercise authority over animals independent of their Creator.

For example, Adam began naming the animals because Jehovah extended that privilege to him. Moreover, Jehovah assisted Adam by “bringing [the animals] to the man to see what he would call each one.” (Genesis 2:19) Only by working under his Creator’s direction could man be successful in caring for the animals.

God Really Does Care!

Sadly, Adam rebelled against his Creator. His rebellion brought devastating consequences to the human family and to all life on earth. The Creator, however, made clear how animals were to be treated. Although man was eventually permitted to use them for food and other practical purposes, God never sanctioned cruel treatment of them. The Bible says: “The righteous one is caring for the soul of his domestic animal, but the mercies of the wicked ones are cruel.”—Proverbs 12:10.

God even gave the ancient nation of Israel laws that addressed the welfare of animals. The arrangement for a Sabbath, a day of complete rest each week, benefited the Israelites’ animals in that they too could rest. (Exodus 23:12) Significantly, although no work was allowed on this sacred day, people were to come to the aid of a distressed animal. (Luke 14:5) God further directed that cattle were not to be deprived of food while they worked, and animals were not to be put under an extreme burden. (Exodus 23:5; Deuteronomy 25:4) Yoking a bull and a donkey together was prohibited, preventing injury to either animal. (Deuteronomy 22:10) Clearly, the Bible teaches that animals were to be treated with propriety, respect, and compassion!

Though many people focus on their own concerns and ignore any consequences to animals, God compassionately considers them. When the prophet Jonah reacted unmercifully when the inhabitants of Nineveh repented and were spared God’s judgment, Jehovah stated: “For my part, ought I not to feel sorry for Nineveh the great city, in which there exist more than one hundred and twenty thousand men who do not at all know the difference between their right hand and their left, besides many domestic animals?” (Jonah 4:11) Yes, the Creator felt pity even for the animals!

Future Care Is Assured

Clearly, God is not insensitive to how animals are treated. His beloved Son, Jesus, even said that a single sparrow does not fall to the ground without his Father’s knowledge. (Matthew 10:29) In contrast, even with the best of intentions, humans do not fully understand how their actions influence the environment. Managing human society in a way that shows regard for wildlife requires a change in mankind’s thinking.

Happily, the Bible describes the time when under God’s Kingdom rule, “the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah.” (Isaiah 11:9) Such knowledge will provide obedient humans with the education and training they need to manage the earth properly. The Creator’s influence will then ensure that harmony prevails between man and beast, thus restoring the conditions on earth that God originally purposed.

The Bible describes the transformation that will then take place, explaining: “The wolf will actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. And the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand.” What a glorious prospect to contemplate!—Isaiah 11:6-8.

HAVE YOU WONDERED?

● Does God care how animals are treated?—Proverbs 12:10; Matthew 10:29.

● Is complete harmony between man and animals possible?—Isaiah 11:6-9.

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DOES PRAYER REALLY HELP?

 “OF THOSE who pray,” said one survey, “about half employ prayer as a ‘hotline to heaven,’ requesting specific help for themselves, their families and friends.” But do such prayers really help? A young girl named Peggy felt they did. After praying to God about her problems, she said: “I felt better and I would go to sleep and I’d wake up the next morning and I wouldn’t think about it. I would forget all about it.”

Perhaps some personal problem has likewise moved you on occasion to approach God as a last resort. Like Peggy, you may even have felt better as a result. Peggy’s prayer, however, did not really help her solve her problem. And perhaps the same was true in your case. You may thus have wondered if prayer simply is something that makes you feel better. ‘How do I know,’ you ask, ‘that I’m not just talking into the air? Is there someone listening who really cares about me and can help me?’

‘God—Does He Care About Me?’

It may indeed seem hard to believe that God in heaven could be concerned about our little problems. However, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?” Jesus continued: “Also, on the matter of clothing, why are you anxious? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.”—Matthew 6:26, 28, 29.

Surely, then, if God cares so much for birds and lilies—would he not care about us enough to listen to our prayers? The Bible thus calls God the “Hearer of prayer.” (Psalm 65:2) He promises that when we pray to him in faith, “no matter what it is that we ask according to his will, he hears us”! (1 John 5:14) And many youths feel that this has proved true in their case.

A young girl named Kay says: “Prayer helps me to be very happy. Sometimes you just feel like expressing your inner feelings to someone, and there is no one better than Jehovah to express them to because Jehovah understands, and you know that he is the only one who can really help you.” Young Peggy (not the one mentioned at the outset) likewise feels that her prayers fall on hearing ears. Notice how she once handled a personal problem: “I just cried and cried about it. But once I stopped crying, I found myself talking to Jehovah, as if he were right there, sitting next to me and listening to what I had to say.”

How Prayer Helps

These youths have learned to follow the counsel of the psalmist: “Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself.” (Psalm 55:22) However, prayer helps in ways that go beyond bringing mere emotional relief. A youth named Maria speaks from personal experience: “I know that whenever I have a problem I can turn to Jehovah for guidance and he will help me.”

Maria, like Peggy and Kay, is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. All three have developed a close personal friendship with God over a period of time through prayer and study of the Bible. To these youths God is truly “a refuge and strength, a help that is readily to be found during distresses.” (Psalm 46:1) However, note that Maria does not pray for the miraculous removal of her problems. Rather, she prays “for guidance.” This points to one of the fundamental principles of prayer.

At James 1:2-5 the Bible says: “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you meet with various trials, knowing as you do that this tested quality of your faith works out endurance . . . So, if any one of you is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching; and it will be given him.” James did not encourage us to pray for escape from “various trials.” We could, however, “keep on asking God” for the wisdom to deal with that trial! God does not ‘reproach’ us as being stupid for asking for this wisdom. Rather, he generously promises us that such wisdom “will be given.”

Suppose, then, you are faced with a difficult situation—a problem with a teacher, a disagreement with your parents. Try praying to God. At the very least, prayer focuses your heart and mind on what is important in God’s sight. This helps put your problem in perspective. Jesus further promised that his holy spirit would ‘bring back to mind all the things he had taught.’ (John 14:26) Similarly, if you pray for guidance, God can call to your mind scriptures or godly principles that bear on the matter. Of course, God will expect some effort on your part, such as researching matters in the Bible or seeking mature advice. God can bless your efforts, at times even giving “the power beyond what is normal” so that you can endure.—2 Corinthians 4:7.

How to Pray to God

Would you, too, like to enjoy a close friendship with God and know that he answers your prayers? Like Kay, Peggy, and Maria, you must begin with a study of the Bible. This will help you to learn about Jehovah God’s personality and qualities. As you learn what a kind and loving God he is, you will feel more comfortable about approaching him in prayer.

‘But what do I say to him?’ you may ask. Praying to God can be much like talking with a close friend. If you had a difficult problem on your mind, wouldn’t you speak very openly to such a friend, expressing your most intimate thoughts and concerns? God is a friend with whom you can trust your deepest thoughts, knowing he will understand exactly what you mean. But since he has far greater wisdom and power than any human, he can really help you!

However, should personal problems always dominate your prayers? Jesus gave us a model prayer known as the Lord’s Prayer, or Our Father prayer, found in the Bible at Matthew 6:9-13. Note that first in importance was the sanctification (or holding as sacred) of God’s name, Jehovah. Next was that God’s Kingdom (or heavenly government) come and that God’s will be done both in heaven and on the earth. It was only after discussing these great issues that Jesus gave attention to personal concerns, such as food, gaining forgiveness, and enduring temptation to do wrong. Your prayers can reflect the same priorities, showing God that you are not selfishly concerned with just your own problems.

Jesus, however, cautioned: “But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.” (Matthew 6:7) Long, complicated prayers do not impress God; neither do prayers read out of a book or recited like a rhyme, as if the choice of words were what is important. Said the psalmist: “Before him pour out your heart.” (Psalm 62:8) Do you have some sort of weakness that you have worked hard to overcome but that keeps surfacing? Is there some family problem that makes you very unhappy? These are things about which you can “pour out your heart” to God for divine help.

Keep in mind, though, that you must also be willing to accept God’s answer. Jehovah, in his wisdom, may see things you do not see. So if you ask for something and don’t receive it, this does not mean Jehovah was not listening. It could simply mean you have asked for something that was not in your best interests. As the proverb says: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) Keep praying about it, and you will eventually receive God’s direction.

When prayer becomes a regular part of your life, it can bring you into a close and happy relationship with Jehovah God, something to be treasured. If you have not yet developed the habit of prayer, now is a good time to start. Why not pray to God about your desire to establish a good relationship with him? He will surely help you.—James 4:8.

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SCIENCE AND THE GENESIS ACCOUNT

 

Many people claim that science disproves the Bible’s account of creation. However, the real contradiction is, not between science and the Bible, but between science and the opinions of Christian Fundamentalists. Some of these groups falsely assert that according to the Bible, all physical creation was produced in six 24-hour days approximately 10,000 years ago.

The Bible, however, does not support such a conclusion. If it did, then many scientific discoveries over the past one hundred years would indeed discredit the Bible. A careful study of the Bible text reveals no conflict with established scientific facts. For that reason, Jehovah’s Witnesses disagree with Christian Fundamentalists and many creationists. The following shows what the Bible really teaches.

When Was “the Beginning”?

The Genesis account opens with the simple, powerful statement: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) A number of Bible scholars agree that this statement describes an action separate from the creative days recounted from verse 3 onward. The implication is profound. According to the Bible’s opening words, the universe, including our planet, Earth, was in existence for an indefinite time before the creative days began.

Geologists estimate that the earth is 4 billion years old, and astronomers calculate that the universe may be as much as 15 billion years old. Do these findings—or their potential future refinements—contradict Genesis 1:1? No. The Bible does not specify the actual age of “the heavens and the earth.” Science is not at odds with the Biblical text.

How Long Were the Creative Days?

What about the length of the creative days? Were they literally 24 hours long? Some claim that because Moses—the writer of Genesis—later referred to the day that followed the six creative days as a model for the weekly Sabbath, each of the creative days must be literally 24 hours long. (Exodus 20:11) Does the wording of Genesis support this conclusion?

No, it does not. The fact is that the Hebrew word translated “day” can mean various lengths of time, not just a 24-hour period. For example, when summarizing God’s creative work, Moses refers to all six creative days as one day. (Genesis 2:4) In addition, on the first creative day, “God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night.” (Genesis 1:5) Here, only a portion of a 24-hour period is defined by the term “day.” Certainly, there is no basis in Scripture for arbitrarily stating that each creative day was 24 hours long.

How long, then, were the creative days? The Bible does not say; however, the wording of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 indicates that considerable lengths of time were involved.

Six Creative Periods

Moses wrote his account in Hebrew, and he wrote it from the perspective of a person standing on the surface of the earth. These two facts combined with the knowledge that the universe existed before the beginning of the creative periods, or days, help to defuse much of the controversy surrounding the creation account. How so?

A careful consideration of the Genesis account reveals that events starting during one “day” continued into one or more of the following “days.” For example, before the first creative “day” started, light from the already existing sun was somehow prevented from reaching the earth’s surface, possibly by thick clouds. (Job 38:9) During the first “day,” this barrier began to clear, allowing diffused light to penetrate the atmosphere.

On the second “day,” the atmosphere evidently continued to clear, creating a space between the thick clouds above and the ocean below. On the fourth “day,” the atmosphere gradually cleared to such an extent that the sun and the moon were made to appear “in the expanse of the heavens.” (Genesis 1:14-16) In other words, from the perspective of a person on earth, the sun and moon began to be discernible. These events happened gradually.

The Genesis account also relates that as the atmosphere continued to clear, flying creatures—including insects and membrane-winged creatures—started to appear on the fifth “day.”

The Bible’s narrative allows for the possibility that some major events during each day, or creative period, occurred gradually rather than instantly, perhaps some of them even lasting into the following creative days.

According to Their Kinds

Does this progressive appearance of plants and animals imply that God used evolution to produce the vast diversity of living things? No. The record clearly states that God created all the basic “kinds” of plant and animal life. (Genesis 1:11, 12, 20-25) Were these original “kinds” of plants and animals programmed with the ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions? What defines the boundary of a “kind”? The Bible does not say. However, it does state that living creatures “swarmed forth according to their kinds.” (Genesis 1:21) This statement implies that there is a limit to the amount of variation that can occur within a “kind.” Both the fossil record and modern research support the idea that the fundamental categories of plants and animals have changed little over vast periods of time.

Contrary to the claims of some religious fundamentalists, Genesis does not teach that the universe, including the earth and all living things on it, was created in a short period of time in the relatively recent past. Rather, aspects of the description in Genesis of the creation of the universe and the appearance of life on earth harmonize with recent scientific discoveries.

Because of their philosophical beliefs, many scientists reject the Bible’s declaration that God created all things. Interestingly, however, in the ancient Bible book of Genesis, Moses wrote that the universe had a beginning and that life appeared in stages, progressively, over periods of time. How could Moses gain access to such scientifically accurate information some 3,500 years ago? There is one logical explanation. The One with the power and wisdom to create the heavens and the earth could certainly give Moses such advanced knowledge. This gives weight to the Bible’s claim that it is “inspired of God.”—2 Timothy 3:16.

You may wonder, though, does it really matter whether you believe the Bible’s account of creation? Consider some compelling reasons why the answer does matter.

[Footnotes]

In the description of what happened on the first “day,” the Hebrew word used for light is ’ohr, light in a general sense, but concerning the fourth “day,” the word used is ma·’ohr′, which refers to the source of light.

For example, during the sixth creative day, God decreed that humans “become many and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28, 31) Yet, this event did not even begin to occur until the following “day.”—Genesis 2:2.

For more information on this subject, see the brochure A Book for All People, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses at www.jw.org

BIBLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED-Where Did the Devil Come From?

God did not create the Devil. Instead, God created the angel who later became the Devil, also known as Satan. Jesus implied that at one time the Devil had been truthful and guiltless. Originally, then, the Devil was a righteous angelic son of God.—Read John 8:44.

How could an angel become the Devil?

The angel who became the Devil chose to oppose God and incited the first human pair to join him. He thus made himself Satan, which means “Resister.”—Read Genesis 3:1-5; Revelation 12:9.

Like the rest of God’s intelligent creatures, the angel that became the Devil had the freedom to choose between doing right and doing wrong, but he developed a desire to be worshipped. His desire for glory was stronger than his desire to please God.—Read Matthew 4:8, 9; James 1:13, 14.

How has the Devil continued to influence humans? Should you fear him? You can find the answers to these questions in the Bible.

For more informative articles please go to www.jw.org

 

THE NEEDY

THE BIBLE’S VIEWPOINT

          Does God care about the needy?

“Let your manner of life be free of the love of money . . . For [God] has said: ‘I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you.’”—Hebrews 13:5.

                  HOW GOD SHOWS HIS CARE

When a worshipper of Jehovah God comes into hard times, God’s care may be evident in various ways. One of those ways is the loving support rendered by fellow Christians. * Says James 1:27: “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation.”

The early Christians came to the aid of one another. For instance, when it was foretold that a famine would severely affect the land of Judea, the Christians in the Syrian city of Antioch determined “to send a relief ministration to the brothers dwelling in Judea.” (Acts 11:28-30) As a result, their needy fellow Christians received essential provisions. This voluntary giving demonstrated Christian love in action.—1 John 3:18.

           How can the needy benefit themselves?

“I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself.”—Isaiah 48:17, 18.

            GOD HELPS US TO HELP OURSELVES

As millions of people have discovered, the wisdom found in the Bible is practical and is unsurpassed. Proverbs 2:6, 7 says: “Jehovah himself gives wisdom; out of his mouth there are knowledge and discernment. And for the upright ones he will treasure up practical wisdom.” When people tap into that wisdom, they benefit themselves.

For example, they avoid harmful and costly habits, such as drug or alcohol abuse. (2 Corinthians 7:1) They also become honest and more conscientious and responsible, thus improving their job prospects or making themselves even more valued as employees. Says Ephesians 4:28: “Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, . . . that he may have something to distribute to someone in need.”

Is there evidence that the Bible’s wisdom helps the needy?

“God’s wisdom is proved right by its results.”—Matthew 11:19, The New English Bible.

     RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

Wilson, a temporary worker who lives in Ghana, was about to finish his term of employment. On his last day, while washing the managing director’s car, Wilson found money in the trunk. His supervisor told him to keep the money. But Wilson, who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, refused to steal. Instead, he returned the money to its owner. Rather than being laid off, Wilson received full-time employment and was later made a senior officer.

In Europe, Géraldine lost her job because her employer disliked Jehovah’s Witnesses. The employer’s mother, however, told her daughter that she had made a big mistake. She said, “If you want an employee who is trustworthy and will take her job seriously, you could not find a better worker than one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Her daughter did research on the Witnesses, and Géraldine got her job back.

When Sarah, a single mom in South Africa, went through hard times, she experienced Christian love in action when members of her congregation gave her family needed food and transportation. Later, her children said, “We have many parents in the congregation.”

Numerous similar experiences could be related. These call to mind Proverbs 1:33, which reads: “As for the one listening to me [Jehovah], he will reside in security.” How true that is!

For more artciles please go to www.jw.org