Watchtower: The Fall of Babylon, 1917

8/20/2019 Watchtower: The Fall of Babylon, 1917

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m BIBLE

~TUDENTS~MONTRLY.B~OOM~

.Y

vol. 9.

NO.

I

TIE I LE STU ENTS MONTHLY l3W-S

vs. T H E

FAE d

O B BYLON

am

1

Column

4.

B2byIsn Mother and Daughters

The Pmtesimt

se ts

and we say

t

T . L ~

L.I

b-e dolorenee

t o

a corn,

few

esout

sou s

vllhln


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(132-133) T H

W A T C H

T O W R GROOELYN, N-

S

clergy are not what they have claimed and t ink thentsekea

to ba

Bmae

8 ~ o n ~

ommy

which wnU11s th

ar ticle o%e Fall of Babv1onu is

wbe Bmin

m n meseenger wrote:

"After the truth,

which

Babylon now begins

to

regard as

her enemy, and a s calculated

to

accomplish her destruction,

shall have become more generally known and widely circulated;

after 'the hail' has to a considerable extent swept away the

refuge of lies; a ~ dfter the now smoldering

urd

menacing

hatred of the tru th is thereb roused to an opposition so

violent and so general as to edc tua lly stop the further prog-

ress of the great work in which the saints are

enga

ed, wi l l

be '%he approximato time of th e deliverance or 'Ange' of

the

last

members of the

body

of Ql r i sL J ' 4 231, 232.

X AmX a

OF

ELUIEl:

After El i'& grmote the Jordan Kith t i s

mantle,

he

over with hah ha and while the two d a d ogether on the

other sik, Elijah was taken

up by

s whirlwind

in to

heaven.

Elishs then took up th e mantle of Eli-&,

tht had

fallen

from him, and went back over the

J ~ Lt

Beems quite

reasonable that the mantle repreeeated th mensage of kut

which the Elijah daas h w posseseed throughout

its

journey

during the harvest

;period

(Psalm

91:4 Eli@ had thi

mantle with bim a11 the way from Gilgal to bhe Jo- Elijrh

and Eliehn stood a t the Jordan, talking; then Elijah wrapped

up Itis mantle and mo t e the waters. This seema t o explain

the waiting period from 1914 to 1817,

when

the smiting of

the antity iarl Jordan b $ n by the measage w r q p d up for

the slsPB&.er." (Exekie 21:15) 'The -shed Mysterp"

contains the mesmqa of tr ut h in brief, compact form, specially

directed against Babylon.

t

mas

used

partiularly from the

latter

part

of 1917 to the spring of 1818.

itbout the middle of Maroh, 1918, the distribution of

' Zhe

Finished

Mystery

was suddenly stopped. The auggbbion

does no t seem unreasonable that, "The Finished Mystery"

be-

ing tbc mantle, the quan ti of these printed and not die

tributed will he used by thexlisha class for

?

wand smiting

of the waters (peoplce).

The saints

need

not be disturbed by the suppression of the

message

against Babylon. This is no t man's work, but the

I a r d ' ~ ork. God bas permitted it t o be interruptad for some

good purpose and will overrule i t to his own glory. 'The

Piilished Mystery" has been suppressed on the theory that

it

interferes with

the

prosecution

of

the war. (Jeremiah 38:4)

Do~~btleashe clergy have represented

to

ofecials that it ie

interfering with the war. R e cannot agree tha t the circula-

tion of t hi s book in any manner interferes with the war's

prosocution. Those having to do with ita distribution have

had no intention whatsoever

to

interfere with the prosecution

of

the

war. Something, however, must interfere with th

harvest work. Excessive use of authority ma

be

expected in

thi s time of stress. In

many

places, petty of%eials of the law

11are arrested, without warrant, some of the faithful Col-

porteur brethren; have thrown them into jail and refused to

give them opportunity to arrange for bail; m d after eeveral

days have turned them

looeo

with

tho wam'ng

that they

sl~ould ot sell any of the STUDIESm THE 538 or any

publications of the Society. Undoubtedly oBcials ;have thought

i t a.lrsolutely necessary to eupprese th is message. TSle h i p -

ture3 indicate that such a

coulee

would

be

taken. In 1881,

the faithful meaeenger of Lsodicea, diacusging this point

said

"\\%en repressive, restrictive and coercive measures a re

Lhought to

be

necessary, such measures will probably include

not only labor organizations and the publi ca tio ~~s hich ad-

vocate their rights

and

wrongs, but also such others as point

out the plan of God, and the real cause and only remedy for

the grea t distress of the nations.

Yes,

the time i s probably not

many years distant, when repressive measures

rasy

be brought

to bear against every effort of the sainta

to

spread the

good

news of tbe coming kingdom, al l on the plea tha t the general

intereeta and the public welfare demead such s. course.

'Thus

would be fulfilled the redictions of the Second

Psalm,

and probably in the end w i 8 more Utternew than can

nuw well be imagined, though i t has ,been partially fulfilled

upon the Head of the ,body.--Acts 4:25-20.

"The same na vs it y for restricting liberty on political m d

soeial questions will probnbl be supposed to

freedom of expression on re&ious quat ions

a t the foundation of

all

liberty.

16

would not be surprising

M a 'stroog government' would some day

replace t is

present

gr republic; and it is entirely probable that m e c o m m

standard of religious belief will

be

deemed

ex

edient and will

be promulgated,

to teadh

outside of which wily be treated and

punished as a political offense. Such a persecution would

not only furnish, in the end or hameat of this age, another

parallel to the harvest of the JewiJ age, but would also give

a wider and deeper signiicanee

to

the worda of the Apoe th

Paul and John, and to th e typical illustrations of t he close of

the earthly career of the true ohurch, as represented in Elijah's

wllirlwind departure and John the Baptist's imprisonment

and :beheading."-B 263, 264.

TBE DOOE

OM)SRUG

The door which by the way, our Lord calls a gato-repre-

w t s

the way of entrance into a certain condition or privi-

lege. (Luke

13:24.

25) In this instance it represents en-

trance

into

the race for the prize of the heavenly csllin

to

joint-heirship

with

Christ Jesus

in

his kingdom. That %m r

upened a t Pentemat.

t muat be c l d eome time.

t

must

remain open until all the "wise virgins" have been

sealed

in

their ,foreheads. While open, it means that thme who enter

have the

Meeeed rivilege of sacriticing and sufIking with

Christ

Jam,

w h i s l oa ni ng is not ardinary auifering, but

such d e r

aa

resnlte from faithfully walking kn the foot-

steps of aster

in

loving devotion to the -use of right

eouanesg, and in

joyfully

defending the truth,

which

is un-

popular, and in

expos2

errors whiah a re po u h .

t

means

a d o u s and energ c promulgatdon of e truth

aa

we

have opportunity, a t all hazards.

t

means

to

be true, loyal

and faithful to the Lord under al l conditions, even

unto

death.

Such privileges ar e the greates t ever afforded

to

any

c m -

ture. The ceasing of such privileges

to

any and all persons

would aeem to mark definitely the closing of the door. 'The

night cometh when no man can work." (John 9:4) l%at

time will mark the closing of t he door. Diermesing th is point,

th last messenger to the church said

"There a re three ways in which the cloeing of th is door

might be indicated: first, by a definite Bible statement of

the

exact date; eecond, by

euoh

a reversal of pubIic sentiment with

reference

to

the truth tha t fidelity and zeal in i ts service would

no longer meet with opposition, and when snfferin with Christ

for th e truth's a&e, would

be

no bnger potwide; o r third.

by

enoh

a condition of affairs obtaining in the &orid th at all

o portunity for such service would be effectually obetmted,

tfus leaving no-opportunities for undidata to enter into

the work and

to

develop and provo their love and faithful-

nesa by their activity and endurance.

.

. We have a cIear

int imt ion tha t th e door will be shut in the manner last

named; for, before the Yillennial day breaks, we are fore-

warned of a

dark

night wherein

no

man can lsbor."-C 207.

205.

"The closing of the 'door,' in th e parable of >.fatthew 25,

marks the full end of a ll opportuni ty for any, even of the

'called' ones, thereafter to at ta in the prize of the high calling.

I t marks the end of a ll opportunitv to prove worthy of the

prize by fsithfulncse in the sew : all opportunity for

service will there terminate in the 'nightJ wher~inno man

a n work."----C 213.

W H O

Ia IS^

'The morning cometh, and

a ao

the night'

Thc night

cometh when no man oan work.' When th at is true, you may

b ow that

the

door is

shut,

&at all th wise virgins have

entered

in, that all have been proved, a d hat all vacancies

have been acceptably 5lled."'-C 225.

"Ere long our work will

be

cut short--gradually a t first,

and then completely and finally, when 'the nigbt cometh, when

no mnn can work.' And thc gloom of

that

'night' will b e

dispelled only by the Xillennial sunrise. When our work is

done, and that n igh t e l m n around us, we may expect not

only to see the storm-clouds grow muc11 darker, but also to

hear and

to

feel thi rieing 'winds' which will e ~ h i n a t en a

wild hurricane of human passion-& whirlwind of trouble.

Thm,

having finished

our appointad work, it will be our part

t o 'stand,' patiently, unt il

our

'change' eomes."4 230.

We record here some of th e trying experiences through

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T H E W T C H T O W E R

whiah our brethreo are causod to paw because of their faith-

fdncas to the Lord. About the 14th day of Mar&, t he At-

torney General instructed the District Attorne e throughout

the count? to yrevcnt the further u l e and bh tr ib .u th of

"The Finis

id

3 ystery," but to arrest no one who had mld

or distributcd the

book

prior to that date without wrongfa1

intent. h'otwithstandina this order. local Government

in difercnt d laces have exceeded their authoritv. Some of

the dear friends have been arrested and thrown into iail for

distributing Tss

BIBLE

~ D ~ T S6 0 - ~ L Y . thers becanee

they were sellinn the first six volume4 of

STUDXES

YX TEE

e: otbers. *because thev eold the Sesurrio of

th

Phob-Drama of Creation. Two' were arrested and b r o w t

into

court

because they had dietribnted the IC lx fo~ox

X'R~S.

After their mearceration, some one induced a woman to make

a false affidavit against one of t hem When the caee wae

heard,. the amdavit was proven to be false nnd both brethren

were released.

E E W B T B PBOM 1IHE 8

Following are a few ext rack .from letters suab as have

been received here every day during the past few weeks:

I County Jail.

In harmony with tbe Lord's will.

I

am having

a

quiet seseon of study and fellowship with him

here."-Corm.

"--------Jail. We shall be taken from here' by a n o k r

to

t h e

District Attorney's office lo r dietr ibut ing KmQDOX

Nms. .

Y

''Your telegram received yesterday in the- ail. They

after keeping

ua

four d

t o rut selline anv of

four sisters went to

a

neiphborina town and distributed THE

R

nd-

111ent.' Just

M

thw t thr owh with t he distribution, the c i h .

g~arahal.with andh insisted tha t the?

EO

sad r ther tbe

pacts up. and thorn thev had a

nnblic

bumim."-Ill,

*

8

06ice.

&a& night w u ha d

im

jail here for

sell*= Finished Mystery.' ZX.

DE

'‘Last Saturday

I

went to o attend the trial of

two Colporteurs, and, whih looking for

them,

was arrested.

They could not prove that I had circulated any of thc books

since

the rulinq was made."-Okla.

"While bus117

in

cutting oat the

pegee objected

to [in # m e pini*WMery**1, an oficer of th e federal gw

ermenf arrested

ua.

My t e ~ue o ehow

me

hb

warrant was

completely ignored. We were converd

to the

police station

and no one was allowed to comuni& with us. From

tbe

press accomt, next morning, I learned tbat twv of my friends

came to bail me out, but were not allowed to see us a6 ail.

After spending several nights m jail, we were reluped with-

out any explanation whatsoever.

Two people told ma that the

officer gave them mverd books, with in#tructions to bum them

when they had flnished reading them."-La.

W e are under~.oinpmeat persectltiom while trying to do

col orteur work. r a u 11 the venth

41 nd 16.%%k$ ~ g n D G ~ ~

T%-S

3lox~r1r.r.The Fall of Bahvlon.' V c have been workine

m-th the other %vlumes and the Scen&rio and booklets: hut

hear th reats of arrest ewrv dav."-Tex,

County Jail.- There are three brothers and my-

self in jail here for selling 'The Finished Mysky.' We are

rejoicing tJlut we hare a share in drinking the Lord'e cup."-

Calif.

I1At y brother and

I

were stopped from

selling

the

B ~ X

~ U I O C S of s~ld ~8m e SC~wlwmaby

a

eeeret

service man. He tokl ns if we tried to sell any mom

boo?za

we would be arrested. We were not selling any Seventh Vol-

ume~ '-Wash.

I n Texae two of the pilgrims have brm arrested for preach-

ing the -pel, one of

them

being held in $10,000 bond for a p

p &fore the Grand Jury. Another of our traveling

mimetere WM

waited

upon by the msyor and chief of

police

in

a

western

town

and

warned

not

to

preach

W ~ ~ J I

e

st

tempted do w a mob

chased

him out of

h

ut cap-

tured his companion and toned bim. The e;ovcmor

co-operated

to fumiah prote&on. This mob violme indicates

tb.t-

he

demons

are

OOMnd inhabiting the minds of men, inciting

them

to

lawleas deeds.

nMm Loom

St. John the Revelator wrote:

And

I ma.nnother m p l

ascending

from

the east, ,having the #a1 of

th living

Ood;

and he cried with a loud voice

to

the four an&

to

whom

not the earth, neither

the

sea,

nor Chc trees, till we have

sealed the eervanta of our

God

in their foreheads '

(Revela-

tion 7:2, 3)

The

conclusion to be dram from this is tbat

Dhe demons will be looeed when the eainta arc scaled and the

door is

dosed.

The Scriptures clearly show that the demons

inhabit Bab Ion. [Revelation 18:2 It is reasonable to

conclade that, arm being lwed , some littl e time might Je

occupied 9 he demons in influencing the minds of the w~ll-

ing ones in Babylon

and

in thc formulation of plam for

operation ageiwt the

Inst

members of the body of Ohrmt, and

that during that time

the saints

would bc

concluding

their

work.

T h e demons will inhabit the members of Babylon

by taking control of

bhe

body and mind,

as

in the days oi

Noah. They will

probbhly first vent their spleen or vengeanc*

upon tho members of the kingdom clam

Conditions w M ave recencly developed in Russia strong-

ly indicate that the evil epirits are loose. I t is well lcnonn

fiat the czar of

Russia

consulted the demons through me&-

nms. The violent disposition w t l y manifested by the clergy

tow ~rd ome of our brethren indicates that the demons are

occupying their minds.

\Ve

m y expect this violence to in-

crease

in the near future. Let ua not be surprised if within a

short time every avenue for the pmmulgation of %he tr uth

is c l o d

A PIgP

Pfm

We need not be a t all disturbed because the o portunity to

distribute Th. Finished Mystmy" has heen heen from

8.

The work is the Lord'a Our business, as nls ambaesadors,

is

to

deliver $he message.

In

the days

to

come the clergy

will not

be

heard to eay that they did not have

o

to

k m f this -ge. This mewage must be d x i z z

Babylon. Only the faithful will engage

in

delivering it. If you

have had an o portunity to do so, rejoice and e v e t h n k s to

the Lord. Tge ie ry chariot that took away FI resents

m

t uy

experiences *at would come

to

tieYitfh"P4 ma

who er&t in making proclamations of th e message of the

king&m,

and

e oM anxious t o enter the fiery chariot and

be taken .home

rn the

hwd's own due time.

Some, when

Beeing

theae Bery eqeriencee-the

5-

ehari?t

appearing, have

e t

plrce of d e t y

by c a h g k h e ~

labors in t he .harvest field and by refusing

to

speak anything

concerning Babylon, declining even to mention it in

e lm

et ud ~. If seems-that tbis shows

a

lack of faith in the Lprd.

Let

us have in mind the Apostle's woras: Now the just

[the justiiled, having the mbe of (X~rist's i g h t e o ~ o ~ ]

haU

live by his faith; but

if

any

man

draw

baek,

my

sod

Bhsll

have no plerrwe

in

him. (Hebrewa 10:38) This

L

the

time above

dl

times to stand finm and truat in the

Lord.

Ewn

*ugh we

see

the

persecution becoming more violent

day h u m f our faithfulness, let us keep in mind

who is on our part is greater than all that can be

against u s Let us not waver. Let us roeeed

in

the

dechrn-

tim of the mees g~of the kingdom a s Tong M the Lord gives

us any opportunities. 'And probebly at tbia 'uncture the

Elijah

clam,

persisting in declaring the truth t o ? he last, will

suffer violence, pass into glory and escape from the eeverest

feature8 of th e gre at time of tr onb le ." 4 231.

The Lord bes permitted m e f his people to remain to

t h i a time in order

to

leave records concerning his kingdom

that will be valuable

to

the undweloped

great

compny class

and to tbe world in general.

It

therefore ho m e s the privi-

lego of al l the consecrated,

as

opportunity offers, to make

proclamation of the

meessp e

of the kingdom. The

trlme

ia

short. Let every

one

be active.

Let wery one who is able

to

give s public addreas, fnd who can And an opportunity,

do so, using

the

subject. The World IIas Ended-Nillions

Now Living

Will Sever

ieu It is a peat privilege to an-

nounce

this

message of the Bingdom to the poor world in this

hour

of

distrew.

If we ar e privil to be the very last

f d

nm on

th to

do

thie,

such wil

be a

great honor. 'To

b among tbow who rcmpin

is

no diehonor; and

to

be the

very

last

one of those

to be

chanw win

be

no discredit.

Severel ripkPss

ahow

that there

is

a special work for the

laat memke of tbe body to do on tbis &e the y d , as im-

pmtant and am d i a U y a ut of &@om work as that

of the

glorified

members on

&

othm

side.''-C

235.

-

Ex

S e q ,

then,

ihd some sveuueo of service are c m et

ook nickly tor ~XIW

o 6 h

avenue remofming open. wn

a n will 3m.

(3rd

the

mwak will cloee

down rrd then

uddenly

wi l l sbp

cony etely. Bu t let us ramember at the

fee t membe~btbeast members-have some work to do even

'%'The m i d m of

the

feet,

d Z o h

is no indpi-t

art

of

the kingdom

work,

will

be accomplished.

Though thefr mes-

Watchtower: The Fall of Babylon, 1917

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Transcript of Watchtower: The Fall of Babylon, 1917