Introduction
Before Herzl there
was Russell. In 1895 Theodore Herzl published Der Judenstaat and two years later
organized the world's First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. Undoubtedly, Herzl
impacted the world Jewish community much more profoundly during his brief and glorious
career, but Charles Taze Russell was already encouraging Jews to find a national home in Eretz
Israel in 1879. His was not a popular Christian message at the time. Most Christians
were then as now still trying to make Jews into Christians.
Bible Students today have followed Pastor Russell's legacy of enthusiastic,
non-proselytizing Zionism. However, at times due to inaccurate media coverage, Bible
Students have been wrongly confused with other Christian denominations with their
different beliefs and different agendas for the Jewish People. These misrepresentations
have been fed and repeated over the years by some of the clergy, who -- quite frankly --
have been bent on tarnishing the historical Zionist record of the Bible Students. This
antagonism probably is to be expected because Bible Students feel the Jewish People own a
separate destiny, unique and distinct from Christians. The other significant difference is
that while most Christians worship a three-in-one god, Bible Students only worship one God
-- "Hear O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is One."
The following pages will hopefully clarify and document the historical Zionist and
non-proselytizing position of Bible Students. Bible Students historically encouraged
Jewish leaders to become Zionists even before they dared to hope for the rebirth of the
State of Israel. Furthermore, as evidenced by current activities, Bible Students expect to
remain encouraging friends in an increasingly unfriendly world.
Chapter I
Christianity Becomes Churchianity
Was Christianity
meant to conquer Judaism? Christianity was never meant to be a world religion. The Greek
word translated "church" in Christian Scripture is ekklesia and means
"that which is called out." They are called out of the world from every
nation and people. They are an extreme minority called out of the world. In Jesus' words,
his church was to be a "little flock." Christianity was not to conquer to
world, but Christians were to be called out of the world.
But life for the Christian minority in the second century was brutally cruel. The pagan
religious leaders and civil rulers demanded allegiance to their multiple gods. By the
third century many Christian leaders felt a need to compromise Christian doctrine to make
Christians more acceptable to the rulers of the Roman Empire. For starters, they embraced
Plato's "Immortality of the soul." There was also the urgent need for multiple
gods...The "trinity" soon became a hallmark of Christian doctrine. Then
Christians succeeded beyond their most extravagant hopes: In the fourth century, Emperor
Constantine declared Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire! It did not matter it
was for his own political reasons, but Christians became a lot more comfortable in the
world. Thus, the Christian church ("that which is called out") diverted from its
basic definition. In no way could it be called a "little flock."
When still a "little flock," Christians never claimed to be the guardians of
eternal salvation for all mankind. But through the centuries following, the church's
glorious reign over the nations was written in blood. Historians call it the "Dark
Ages" (although some recent revisionism in history texts call those centuries in
politically correct language, the "Middle Ages"). The world church persecuted
any and all who rejected its claims -- whether Christian "heretics" or Jews.
Millions who were consigned to eternal damnation were then supposedly justifiably tortured
in this life. The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century helped religious freedom
very little. Very soon the Protestant churches found it expedient to retain much of the
"Dark Age" dogmas, especially the trinity and eternal damnation for all who
rejected their gospel.
Bible Students
Emerge
So entrenched were
the creeds of the Protestant denominations that the Age of Enlightenment did not impact
their seminaries until the mid 1800s. Then finally the dam broke. A tidal wave of
infidelity swept over the Christian world in the latter half of that century. Modernist
theology was born. The only response permitted within the precincts of conservatism was to
blindly defend the old creeds of the "Dark Ages." Something had to be done.
Pastor Russell
Founded the Bible Students
A return to the
studying of the Bible itself emerged as the only solution. In 1870 in Allegheny,
Pennsylvania, a Bible class for systematic Bible Study was formed. Soon Charles Taze
Russell was selected as its Pastor. Gradually other earnest Christians were forming
independent Bible classes and Pastor Russell became the leader of thought and activity
among these congregations. In 1879 Zion's Watch Tower was formed --later known as the
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. (This organization is not to be mistaken for the
Jehovah's Witnesses who organized in 1931.)
Pastor Russell never claimed to originate Bible truths, but rather to recover the truths
held by the first century church. Wearied with the Dark Age theories of Christendom, he
inspired hope and faith in the hearts of the masses. A prolific writer, his major
accomplishment was a six-volume series of systematic theology, Studies in the
Scriptures. By 1909 this series was one of the world's three most widely circulated
works, surpassed only by the Bible and The Chinese Almanac. "In American literature,
Mr. Russell stands first." 1
To thousands of congregations around the world, he was a beloved Pastor. Tens of thousands
of individuals were encouraged by hearing his hope-inspiring lectures. Hundreds of
thousands were greeted by his smiling face as they weekly opened their local newspapers to
read his faith-inspiring sermons. In the last three years of his life some eight million
people saw and heard this dynamic speaker on film as Pastor Russell who introduced his
epic motion Picture, The Photo-Drama of Creation -- the crowning feature of his
ministry. Never before had sound and color been incorporated into motion pictures. Pastor
Russell broke all records in not only technology but also in attendance which was
consistently astronomical. But even more important was the content of his encouraging
message.
On October 31, 1916, newspaper headlines across the country shocked the nation...Pastor
Russell, the globe-trotting preacher on a transcontinental speaking tour, finished his
work. Pastor Russell was dead. An era of excellence in the communication of Christian
faith and hope had come to an end. But clearly now, Christianity was no longer
defined as the Churchianity of the centuries.
Chapter 2
Bible Students and the Jewish People
For nearly a
century Bible Students have enjoyed a continuous reputation documented as pro-Zionist,
non-proselytizing friends of the Jewish People. All segments of the Jewish community have
taken notice of the Bible Students and have joined in this documentation: Israeli
government leaders, members of the Knesset, former Soviet Refusniks, journalists, authors
as well as other secular, academic and religious leaders.
An unprecedented phenomenon occurred in the Jewish press back in 1910. Anglo-Jewish
newspapers and the Yiddish press carried articles by a Christian minister! It happened to
be the Bible Student -- Pastor Charles Taze Russell. Thus began the litany of accolades of
Bible Students by Jewish molders of thought that has continued until now -- and the
momentum is increasing.
Bible Students'
Record in the Christian Community
Bible Students are
a small but international Christian fellowship. Yes, small but very active. In fact, it is
their code of activism -- complete consecration to their ideals -- that keeps them small.
But the Bible Students do impact the Christian community. Bible Students continually
challenge false dogmas in particular, like the "trinity" and "eternal
damnation" -- for all who do not accept the Christian message Before death.
The consequences of these two dogmas have been devastating for the Jewish community. The
trinity concept, three gods in one, of course, incited the false accusation of deicide
-- God killers! -- that Christians have leveled at the Jewish people. These two vicious
dogmas fanned the sparks of anti-Semitism into a blazing, fire that burned down through
the Christian era. During the Holocaust, many Christians saw no problem with cooperating
in that horrific slaughter of six million Jews. What was their rationalization? God has
already damned Jews eternally.
Bible Students, however, have made some inroads. After a century of aggressively
challenging these two dogmas, many clergy and scholars in a number of denominations no
longer hold that non-Christians are eternally lost. Although Bible Students have not
similarly impacted the clergy on the trinity issue, many of the laity in various
denominations are questioning this mind-boggling and hate-inciting dogma.
A Dual-Covenant
God
People are what
they believe. If a Christian believes his God will eternally punish every Jew that refuses
to come into the Christian covenant, that Christian will react to that belief in one of
two ways: Either he will copy the hatred he attributes to his God and anti-Semitism will
justifiably follow -- or he will attempt to convert every Jew possible to salvage him or
her from a horrible fate.
Back in the 1880s Bible Students were the first Christian group to embrace the
dual-covenant concept. And we urge all Christians to realize that this is the teaching of
the Judeo-Christian Bible. God has a separate covenant with the Jewish People that
guarantees them a glorious destiny. He has a different covenant with Christians. The
problem is that most Christians wrongly believe that the Jewish covenant has ended and the
only other option for salvation is for Jews to come into the Christian covenant.
Bible Students are gratified, though, to see that finally in the last decade a few
Protestant denominations have accepted the dual covenant concept. For example, the 1996
Southern Baptist resolution to target Jews for conversion was opposed by a small
but vigorous minority within the Southern Baptism Conference. Why? They had recently
affirmed the dual-covenant concept and formed a semi-independent alliance called the
"Alliance of Baptists." 2 The vast majority of Christian churches,
however, owes the Jewish people a public apology for the vicious persecution of the Jewish
People down through the Christian era -- including the Holocaust. These crimes of
anti-Semitism in addition to their other inflammatory beliefs are the direct result of the
failure to recognize the dual-covenant concept.
Early Advocates
of Zionism
Bible Students
were the first to appreciate and act upon the commission of Isaiah 40:1: "Comfort, oh
comfort My people." (TANAKH, Jewish Publication Society) And they took this
commission very seriously. In 1891 Charles Russell, the Pastor of Bible Students
congregations around the world, proposed to Baron Rothschild and Baron Hirsch a practical
plan for Zionism that involved the purchasing of all government lands (lands not held by
private owners) in Palestine from the impoverished Ottoman Empire of Turkey. (Years later
Herzl made similar proposals). Pastor Russell prefaced his proposal with the prediction of
a massive exodus of Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe. As he predicted, history records
over 3 million Jews emigrated from Russia and Eastern Europe by 1924.
Pastor Russell closed his proposal as follows: 3
But please note,
my dear Sir, that the sacred Scriptures predict the return to Palestine, and not a further
wandering to the ends of the earth -- to America or elsewhere. And, furthermore, It is my
humble opinion that Israel will find no rest for the sole of his foot until he finds it in
the land of promise; and I pray you therefore, not to waste your efforts in assisting
emigration elsewhere, but concentrate them in the direction where God has indicated
success. God bless you.
In 1910 Pastor
Russell received the following unprecedented letter from a committee of Jewish leaders: 4
Jewish Mass
Meeting
September 20, 1910
Pastor C. T. Russell, Brooklyn. N. Y.
Dear Sir: Your sympathetic interest in the Jewish people for years past has not escaped
our notice. Your denunciations of the atrocities perpetrated against our race in the name
of Christianity has added to our conviction that you are a sincere friend. Your discourse
on "Jerusalem and Jewish Hopes" has struck a responsive chord in the hearts of
many of our people. Still we doubted for a time if any Christian minister could really be
interested in a Jew as a Jew and not merely from a hope of proselyting him. It is because
of this feeling that some of us request you to make a public statement respecting the
nature of your interest in our people and we desire you to know that the statement you did
make was very satisfactory. In it you assured us that you are not urging Jews to become
Christians and join any of the sects or parties of Protestants or Catholics. That
statement, Pastor Russell, has been widely published in the Jewish journals. We feel,
therefore, that we have nothing to fear from you as a race. On the contrary, in that
statement you mentioned that the foundation of your interest in our people is built upon
your faith in the testimonies of our Law and the messages of our Prophets. You may well
understand how surprised we are to find a Christian minister acknowledging that there are
prophecies of the Bible still unfulfilled, which belong to the Jew and not to the
Christian, and that these prophecies, according to your studies, are nearing a fulfillment
of momentous interest to our Jewish race and, through us as a people, to the nations of
the world.
These things, Pastor Russell, have led to the formation of a Jewish Mass Meeting
Committee, which, by this letter, requests you to give a public discourse, especially to
our people. If you will kindly accept this invitation, will you permit us to suggest a
topic for your address, which, we believe, will be very interesting to the public and
especially to the Jews, namely, "Zionism in Prophecy"
As for the meeting: We suggest Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock, October 9. We have secured
an option on the Hippodrome, New York's largest and finest auditorium, for that date, and
we hope that this date and the place will be agreeable to your convenience. We assure you
also of a large audience of deeply interested Hebrews, besides whoever may come of the
general public.
Trusting to hear from you soon, we subscribe ourselves,
Yours, respectfully, Jewish Mass Meeting Committee
Who was this
gracious Committee? The following leaders of the Jewish community were members of this
committee: Dr. Jacobs, Editor of the American Hebrew; W. J. Solomon, of the Hebrew
Standard; J. Brasky, Associate Editor of the Hebrew Standard; Louis Lipsky,
Editor of the Maccabean; A. B. Landau, Editor of the Wahrheit; Leo Wolfsohn,
President, Federation of Roumanian Societies; J. Pfeffer, of the Jewish Weekly; S.
Diamont, Editor of the Jewish Spirit; S. Goldberg, Editor of the American Hebrew;
J. Barondess, of the Jewish Big Stick; Mr. Goldman, Editor, Hayom, the only
Jewish daily.
An enthusiastic summary of the speech and description of the meeting was published in The
New York American, October 9, 1910, which is quoted in part:
The unusual
spectacle of 4,000 Hebrews enthusiastically applauding a Gentile preacher, after having
listened to a sermon he addressed to them concerning their own religion, was presented at
the Hippodrome yesterday afternoon, where Pastor Russell, the famous head of the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, conducted a most unusual service.
In his time the venerable pastor has done many unconventional things. His religion is
bounded by no particular denomination, and encompasses, as he says, all mankind. His ways
of teaching it are his own. But he never did a more unconventional thing than this -- nor
a more successful one.
He won over an audience that had come -- some of it, at least -- prepared to debate with
him, to resent, perhaps, what might have appeared like a possible intrusion. "Pastor
Russell is going to try to convert the Jews to Christianity," was the word that many
had received before the meeting. "He wants to proselyte us."
...In the crowd which filled the big showhouse were scores of rabbis and teachers, who had
come to speak out in case the Christian attacked their religion or sought to win them from
it. They had questions and criticisms ready for him. He was received at first in a dead
silence.
But the Pastor did not seek to convert the Jews. To their unbounded delight, he pointed
out the good things of their religion, agreed with them in their most important beliefs as
to their salvation...
It was not long before all reserve, and all possible doubt of Pastor Russell's entire
sincerity and friendliness were worn away. Then the mention of the name of a great leader
[Herzl] who, the speaker declared, had been raised by God for the cause -- brought a burst
of applause.
From that moment on the audience was his. The Jews became as enthusiastic over him as
though he had been a great rabbi or famous orator of their own religion. He hailed them as
one of the bravest races of the earth -- having kept their faith through the persecutions
and cruelties of all other people for thousands of years. And he predicted that before
very long they would be the greatest of the earth -- not merely a people, any longer, but
a nation...
Persecution would be over and peace and universal happiness would triumph.
As he brought his address to a conclusion the Pastor raised his hand again to his choir.
This time they raised the quaint, foreign-sounding strains of the Zion hymn, "Our
Hope," one of the masterpieces of the eccentric East Side poet Imber.
The unprecedented incident of Christian voices singing the Jewish anthem came as a
tremendous surprise. For a moment the Hebrew audience could scarcely believe their ears.
Then, making sure it was their own hymn, they first cheered and clapped with such ardor
that the music was drowned out, and then, with the second verse, joined in by
hundreds...He made a friend, they all declared, of everyone who had heard him.
Can we imagine a
Christian minister so boldly telling this Jewish audience that the "work of
Zionism" in Palestine in 1910 was of God?...And those that had faith would actually
go to Palestine to do that work or at least "go to Palestine sympathetically...by
financial assistance...[for the] establishment there of great enterprises...?" Pastor
Russell also warned those of "insufficient faith to use their means in forwarding
the Lord's work at this important juncture [or they] will find themselves pictured by
the Prophet Ezekiel, who declares (7:19) that in this great Day of Trouble 'their gold
shall be removed; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them.'" 5
To Pastor Russell the "work of Zionism in Palestine [Eretz Israel]" was
"the Lord's work" -- the Lord's doing -- and certainly this is still true today.
(One wonders how much of the Holocaust could have been avoided if the work of Zionism
in Eretz Israel had flourished between 1910-1940?)
Pastor Russell did not stop with the Hippodrome in New York. He had similar mass meetings
in Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati. In England he addressed
4,600 Jews in London's Royal Albert Hall. Other meetings followed in Shoreditch Town Hall,
Manchester and Glasgow. Traveling then to all the major Jewish centers in Europe
addressing Jewish audiences, Pastor Russell carried with him his message of comfort and
faith.
The Herzl Year Book provides the statistics of the continual stream of encouraging
printed literature he provided for the Jewish People: 6
...[H]is
preachings on the subjects of Judaism and Zionism appeared in 107,000 copies of
Anglo-Jewish newspapers and weeklies, and in 650,000 copies of the Yiddish press. He even
considered it worthwhile to publish a Yiddish paper of his own, Di Shtimme, which
aroused interest and echo among the Jews of America, Europe and Russia. In 1912 he wrote
and published a brochure about the Jews, bearing the name Comfort to the Jews (with
reference to Isaiah 40:1-2)...In one passage he demonstrates again his anti-missionary
tendencies:
A voice is sounding from the wilderness and Jews everywhere are hearkening to it. It does
not call them to become Christians, but to remain Jews and to realize as Jews the ideals
set before them by the Lord in the Law and by the Prophets.
Written to a
basically Christian audience, Pastor Russell stated in an article that appeared in the Overland
Monthly in 1911 under the title, "Jews Not to be Converted to Christianity":
The Jew who ceases
to be a Jew ceases to look in the proper direction for the blessings God has promised to
him. And this is true, whether it be by becoming a Presbyterian, an Episcopalian, a
Romanist or an unbeliever -- an infidel. In the Jewish Law and promises are the proper
incentives for the Jewish life. The Jew has in his Law and in the prophecies everything.
Jacob De Haas,
editor of the Boston Jewish Advocate was at first critical of Pastor Russell. After
an interview with Pastor Russell, Mr. De Haas published an article in the Jewish
Advocate (May 26, 1911), entitled, "What Pastor Russell Preached." The
article also appeared in the Bible Student Monthly as follows: 7
Pastor Russell is
not a missionary to the Jews, he has no desire to convert them to Christianity in any
form, in fact, he could not be an ordinary Christian and be Pastor Russell at the same
time...
Of course, the Pastor believes in the Nazarene, but it is not the common conception and what
concerns us most, his Christ is for the Christians, not, for the Jews. He does not
believe in the Trinity and regards the doctrine as contrary to all Scriptures...
So Pastor Russell neither practically nor theoretically favors the conversion of the Jews.
But our interest in him does not quite end there. The removal of the Fundamental cause for
suspicion brings him, as a matter of fact, on an entirely new plane of relations with
Jews. He is the possible philo-Semite.
This endorsement
by De Haas was of major significance since De Haas was a personal confidant of Herzl and
in His original entourage. In fact, Jacob De Haas was sent by Herzl to activate Zionism in
the United States. In 1912 He convinced Louis Brandels, "the most distinguished
figure in American life to become a Zionist." 8
Regarding the significant Land issue, Pastor Russell's position is reflected in a
statement he made while Palestine was yet part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. In 1911 he
proclaimed:
The message to
them [Jews] now is that the land is theirs -- that their period of chastisement is at an
end and that shortly divine blessing will come to them -- not as Christians, but as Jews.
In November 1914
after showing that the "sevenfold" or "seven times" period of gentile
possession of the Land (Leviticus 26:23-42) had expired, Pastor Russell said: 9
Now we are able to
tell them [Jews] that the Gentile Times have expired, and that they may go up and take
possession of the land. We do not know how soon they will take possession. According to
their faith it will be unto them.
The Pastor also
stated that every effort should be made to buy the land from a nearly bankrupt Turkey
since if Turkey lost Palestine in the war, it would be a total loss.
When Pastor Russell died October 31, 1916, the Herzl Year Book observed: 10
Russell himself,
according to the testimony of the American Jewish Press from the years 1910 to 1916
maintained excellent and friendly relations with the leaders of American Jewry to his last
days.
Historians observe
that Zionism was at its lowest ebb between 1904 and 1917. But Pastor Russell just before
his death was gratified to observe that he did much to revive it. The work of Pastor
Russell on behalf of the Jewish People can best he summed up by recognizing that never
before had the Jewish People opened their hearts to a Christian minister...And never
before had a Christian minister brought such heartening comfort to the Jewish People.
Pastor Russell's
Tradition Continued by Bible Students
During the 1920s
and early '30s, various Bible Students took seriously their responsibilities to comfort
and encourage the faith of Jewish People in Biblical Zionism. Then in 1936 the dark
foreboding clouds of the Holocaust began to gather in the sky over Germany. In the United
States many Christian groups were seething with hate -- spewing out the venom of
anti-Semitism. In this sinister climate, a gentile stood up whose voice of protest was
heard louder than any other. It was a Bible Student again, Professor Franklyn Hudgings.
His book, Zionism in Prophecy, in 1936 launched him on a most rewarding speaking
circuit. Large Jewish audiences came to hear him and enthusiastically received his message
of Zionism. Some of the reviews by eminent rabbis on the front and back covers of his book
read as follows:
This unusual work,
"Zionism in Prophecy," is dedicated to the true interpretation of Israel's
prophets. It shows that no one can honestly claim belief in the Bible and at the same time
approve, or even remain silent, when Israel falls the victim of anti-Semitic persecution
which is often masked by the cloak of religion. -- Rabbi Max Kirshblum, Executive
Director, Mizrachi Organization of America (Orthodox Jewish Zionist Agency)
...With deepest appreciation of Dr. Wise and the entire United Palestine Appeal Committee
-- Mendel N. Fisher, Campaign Director, United Palestine Appeal.
The attitude of many Gentiles toward Jews has been at the best anomalous. Hence it is an
exalting experience to encounter a Gentile writer who has an honest, impersonal and truly
devout attitude of favor toward Zionist striving. Such a man is the author of
"Zionism in Prophecy"...On every ground his utterances are worthy of perusal by
both Jews and non-Jews everywhere. A little more of his spirit would help to solve more
than one world problem. -- Rabbi Abraham Burstein, Managing Editor, The Jewish Outlook.
Dr. Hirsch Loeb
Gordon, the well-known writer, Hebraic scholar and Talmudist, wrote in the Foreword of Zionism
in Prophecy: 11
In addition to
those great prophets of Israel who were chosen mouthpieces of Jehova[h], there also were
some ancient Gentile sages with prophetic vision, among whom was Balaam, also the faithful
Job.
Now, after a lapse of thirty-three centuries, there arises another Gentile -- one to
expound the prophets, and to encourage the tribes of Israel in their present fervent quest
for the holy land...Certainly this Gentile voice from America is now being raised in the
midst of darkness -- at a time when beastly persecutions are being heaped upon Jewry in
various parts of the world.
Recent
Activities
With assimilation
spiraling upward, anti-Semitism escalating, militia hate groups organizing, the media
bashing Israel, Holocaust revisionism spreading, evangelical churches covertly targeting
Jews for conversion -- something had to be done! Someone had to speak out. Members of the
Bible Students Congregation of New Brunswick launched an ongoing campaign of rebuttal.
Editorial ads, newspaper articles and opinion pieces were placed in numerous papers.
Israel:
Appointment With Destiny -- Highly Acclaimed
Since 1989, Israel:
Appointment With Destiny, along with Pastor Kenneth Rawson's live presentation, has
received overwhelmingly positive receptions with synagogues, churches, Jewish Federations,
B'nai B'rith chapters, Hillel units and yeshivas across the United States. Since it is
regularly updated to keep abreast with history in the making, it is still in continuous
demand.
In 1992 the premier showing of this production in Israel was shown in Jerusalem and was
received enthusiastically by 1,200 Israelis. At the Knesset, the Hebrew version of the
production was presented as a gift to the Israeli Government. Many Knesset members
expressed their personal appreciation for the Bible Student efforts on behalf of Israel
and the Jewish People.
The Russian version of the video of Israel: Appointment With Destiny is now being
distributed to counter assimilation in Russia and establish Jewish roots in Israel. This
production puts them in touch with their Jewish heritage. In over 1,000 Jewish Community
Centers in the former Soviet Republics, Israel: Appointment With Destiny will be
distributed and shown. There is a sense of urgency because U.S.-based Christian
evangelicals are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into missionary drives targeted
at the unsuspecting, unrooted Jew. Therefore, Bible Students are endeavoring to enlarge
the scope of this effective video production. Romanian, French, Spanish and German
versions have been produced or are in the process of production.
Israel: Appointment With Destiny has been highly commended also in Israel by the
Prime Minister's Bureau, the Minister of Religious Affairs as well as several Russian
Refusniks. It has been highly acclaimed in the Baltimore Jewish Times, The
Jewish News (Detroit), The Jewish Press, The Jerusalem Post and
different Federation Publications as well as other Jewish newspapers. Religious leaders,
publishers, editors and academic leaders in the Jewish community in the U.S., Israel and
Europe have all joined in the accolades.
Newspaper Ad
Campaign
Over the years,
especially in the last several years, Bible Students have placed numerous editorial ads
combating Anti-semitism and Israel-bashing -- including a quarter-page ad on the New
York Times OP/ED page, "First Holocaust Revisionism -- Now Land
Revisionism!" Some examples of other ads placed: "The Vatican's Hidden
Agenda" and "The UN is Wrong: Jerusalem is not 'Occupied Territory'!"
When Bible Student youth on Ohio State University campus found themselves staring at the
college paper's vicious full-page (free) editorial by Bradley Smith on Holocaust
revisionism, wheels started to turn...The Jewish community of Columbus was outraged. One
of the students at OSU, who was also a Bible Student, spoke at a protest rally of Jews.
What else was done? The Bible Students congregation in Columbus was the only Christian
group that spoke up -- and they shouted! The next issue of Ohio State Lantern
carried a full-page (paid) ad by the Bible Students refuting Bradley Smith's lies and
proving the fact of the Holocaust.
But this action was not enough. Bradley Smith had a national campaign going. The Bible
Students in Columbus followed up by attempting to place a full-page ad or an editorial in
every campus paper which carried Smith's venom. The Jewish leaders of Columbus expressed
to the Bible Students their appreciation -- many with tears in their eyes.
As long as there is anti-Sernitism, Israel bashing and Holocaust revisionism, Bible
Students will stand by their Jewish brethren. As long as there is assimilation and
proselyting going on, Bible Students will be reminding their Jewish brethren of their
roots and their glorious destiny.
Chapter 3
Pastor Russell not the Founder of Jehovah's Witnesses
"Jehovah's
Witnesses" are obviously not Zionists. Why do some claim Pastor Russell -- an ardent
Zionist -- was the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses? Both Pastor Russell and the Bible
Students have been the victims of not only sinister actions of misrepresentation, but
character assassination. Human nature being what it is, religious zealotry can,
unfortunately, beget malicious acts reasoning that the end justifies the means. Centuries
ago bigotry resulted in Christians not only persecuting Jews, but Christians persecuting
Christians. Our world is supposed to be more "civilized," but bigotry still
flourishes. Now intolerance often takes the form of character assassination and sinister
misrepresentation. Some clergy are intent on misrepresenting Bible Students and their
Pastor as "Jehovah's Witnesses."
David Horowitz -- award-winning author, journalist, editor, former President of the UN
Correspondents Association and Nazi hunter -- sets the record straight. Because of the
conflicting information about Pastor Russell and the Bible Students, Mr. Horowitz
researched the history. He discovered that not only was Russell pro-Zionist and
non-proselytizing, but that he was an activist, traveling throughout the United States and
Europe to encourage the Jewish People to cherish their Jewish roots and to support
Zionism. Absolutely fascinated about the history, he wrote a book on Pastor Russell and
the Bible Students. In his book, Pastor Charles Taze Russell: An Early American
Christian Zionist, he writes: 12
Contrary to some publicity
made concerning "Jehovah's Witnesses", Pastor Russell is not the founder of this
religious group. He has never associated with "Jehovah's Witnesses" nor did he
ever claim the name. Pastor Charles T. Russell died in 1916. The "Jehovah's
Witnesses" came into existence later [1931]. Associating Pastor Russell with
"Jehovah's Witnesses" leaves the decidedly mistaken view that their teachings
and beliefs are alike. Such is not the case.
Examples of
Misrepresentation
A case of
misrepresentation occurred when an article by a Bible Student minister in which Pastor
Russell was mentioned briefly appeared in The Jerusalem Post. Immediately, two
evangelical ministers wrote in letters to the Editors labeling and discounting Pastor
Russell and the Bible Students as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Bible Students did not have to
defend themselves. David Horowitz jumped into the fray to refute this misrepresentation: 13
The attempt...to
stigmatize [the Bible Student] Pastor...as a Jehovah's Witness was absurd. As Editor of
the World-Union Press, writer of a syndicated column (appears in the Jewish
Press and 18 other Jewish papers), Editor of the United Israel Bulletin, past
Editor of the American Examiner (now the Jewish Week), past President of the
Foreign Press Association, I have frequently written against the missionary work of
Jehovah's Witnesses among the Jewish people and commended...the Bible Students for their
work of strengthening the Jewish people in their Jewish faith. My book, Pastor Charles
Taze Russell: An Early American Christian Zionist which was highly commended by
Benjamin Netanyahu and Jeane Kirkpatrick, shows that Pastor Russell, who enjoyed close
ties with the leaders of American Jewry, was not a Jehovah's Witness. He was pro-Zionist
and non-proselytizing. Jehovah's Witnesses are anti-Zionist and proselyte the Jewish
people.
Furthermore,
Horowitz' clarification of Russell's beliefs and work was highly commended by Benjamin
Netanyahu when he was the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations: 14
David Horowitz
sets the record straight about the beliefs and achievements of Charles Taze Russell. A
recognition of Pastor Russell's important role as an early American Christian advocate of
Zionism is long overdue. Mr. Horowitz has performed an admirable service in restoring to
public knowledge the story of this important Christian Zionist.
How and Why
Jehovah's Witnesses Were Founded
An unfortunate
scrap of history provides the answer as to the origins of "Jehovah's Witnesses."
After the death of Pastor Russell in 1916, the purpose of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract
Society changed drastically. Joseph Rutherford, whom Pastor Russell had recently dismissed
from his staff, seized legal control of the Watch Tower, dismissed the majority of the
Board of Directors and established dictatorial control. The Watch Tower became the central
head and authority over all congregations willing to yield their sovereignty. Basic
doctrines of the new "society" seriously digressed from the teachings of Pastor
Russell and the writings of Pastor Russell were discarded. The methods of conducting the
evangelistic work were altered. The more sensational digressions, such as refusing blood
transfusion and saluting the flag, caught the public's eye.
But many individuals and whole congregations refused to surrender their Christian liberty
or accept the new teachings. As early as 1917, the exodus from the newly declared
sovereign headquarters began. By 1918 one-fourth of the Bible Students left Rutherford and
his dictatorial policies and continued to respect the teachings of the late Pastor
Russell. 15
In the struggle between Rutherford and the Bible Students, William Schnell was in the
upper echelon of the Watchtower and made some very insightful observations. At the time he
finally wrote his book, Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave, he was neither a Jehovah's
Witness or a Bible Student. Schnell noted that further doctrinal changes and aggressive
promotions by Rutherford resulted in a large increase in new members, but this also
generated opposition from the Bible Students of Pastor Russell's era. These Bible Students
endeavored to reverse Rutherford's revisionism of doctrine and practice. Rutherford's
reaction is described as follows: 16
Between 1925 and
1931 Rutherford embarked on a campaign to purge Russell's followers. By 1931 over
three-fourths of those formerly associated with the Bible Student movement in Pastor
Russell's day remained faithful to his teachings by completely separating from Rutherford.
Regarding those
who left, Schnell remarked, "That is precisely what the new Watch Tower Society
wanted and what they had hoped to accomplish." 17 Speaking of the new
converts Schnell said: 18
These, of course,
were in the majority after the bloodletting of three-fourths of the Bible Students had
been so adroitly accomplished.
Further, Schnell
observed: 19
The old Bible
Students, spiritbegotten...individuals, true Christians, would never have stood for such
subversion of thinking and practices. Being Students of the Bible, they had been warned by
what Paul had said in 2 Tim. 4:3: "For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine."
The lineage of the
Bible Student congregations of today traces back through these separatist Bible Students
to Pastor Russell their founder. A description Schnell gives of the Bible Students reveals
why Rutherford could not subdue them:
Bible Students had
been of such rugged individuality type that they claimed they had fled various [church]
organizations in order to become and remain free and unencumbered in their quest of Bible
studies and living as Christians. They felt that the organizations from which they had
fled had become too rigid and stilling, a condition which they considered detrimental to
their course as Christians. In fact, in those days Bible Students were the most rugged
individualists ever to appear since the days of the early Church. Their motto of
"nonconformity" became a byword in the 80's and 90's of the last century.
The picture is
clear. The historical data reveals beyond a doubt that Bible Students founded by Pastor
Russell and Jehovah's Witnesses founded by Judge Rutherford are two separate movements.
Yet there is one point that tends to be confusing and contradictory. Why do Jehovah's
Witnesses sometimes refer to Pastor Russell as their founder? Certainly it is not because
they agree with his basic teachings. In fact, they so vigorously disagree with his basic
teachings that they have time and again categorized Bible Students as the "evil
servant" class who will be annihilated eternally. (Bible Students, on the other
hand, have nothing but joyful expectations for the Witnesses' eternity.)
What is the sin of Pastor Russell and his Bible Student movement that make them so evil?
What is the abominable sin that they have committed that merits eternal destruction? The
answer is simply that Bible Students still hold on to the Biblical teachings of Pastor
Russell! That means that, therefore, they reject Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrines. To
Jehovah's Witnesses, the basic teachings of Bible Students are gross error -- worthy of
eternal Judgment.
The absurd contradiction emerges, however, when Jehovah's Witnesses claim Pastor Russell
as their founder. Where did the Bible Students get their so-called gross errors but from
Pastor Russell? If he taught gross error, how can Jehovah's Witnesses claim Russell as
their founder? Why do they claim him anyway?
"Historic
Depth"
For one reason and
one simple reason alone is this claim made -- "historic depth." As a Christian
church, the Jehovah's Witnesses are neophytes. Since the Jehovah's Witnesses only began in
1931, they need historic credibility. Imagine in the 1930s, '40s or '50s, saying,
"Our Christian group only began in 1931." To claim Pastor Russell as their
founder, however, would project them back into the 1800s as a Christian group. (After all,
a number of Christian churches had their beginnings in the 1800s.) As evidence of their
sensitivity to historic depth, they do a "one-upmanship" on all religious groups
by claiming that Able, Adam's son was the first Jehovah's Witness. This is really reaching
for historic depth! But a pretense of historic depth means nothing.
The historic facts are clear. Pastor Russell founded the Bible Students in the 1870s.
Judge Rutherford founded the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931.
Just to illustrate the point, the Lutherans and Roman Catholics have a common lineage
simply because the Lutherans broke away from the Papacy. But they are two separate
churches. The Lutherans believe Martin Luther's teachings and the Catholics believe the
teachings of the popes. Just because the Lutherans' lineage goes back to the popes does
not mean the popes are the founders of the Lutherans. The popes are the founders of the
Roman Catholics who believe their doctrines.
A few similarities of belief between Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses exist. As
well, one might speak with a Baptist regarding their doctrine and then with a
Presbyterian. There would be obvious similarities. But to say that the two are the same
because of their obvious similarities is inaccurate. Just as Baptist and Presbyterians
believe in eternal torment, Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses believe in eternal
annihilation. But this similarity does not make them the same group!
In any case, it is well to observe that Bible Students feel most Jehovah's Witnesses are
noble-minded people and are just as likely as other people to enjoy the blessings of God's
eternity. (We, only wish they shared such kindly feelings towards us!)
There are many books about the Watchtower organization, even by former Watchtower members.
But none have the insight of Schnell, an insider during those crucial years of terminating
the old movement and creating the new.
This loose-knit Bible Student movement of "rugged individualists," as Schnell
called them, is prospering worldwide. Yes, Bible Students are a small movement of
"rugged individualists" banded together in congregations that zealously guard
their congregational autonomy. But if you have a small band of individualists, each of his
own volition, fully consecrated to a vision of Truth, then you have activists (tempered by
a Christlike ideal of love). Thus, Bible Students as they did in Pastor Russell's day
impact the world to a degree that far exceeds their size.
Schnell was a "born again" fundamentalist Christian at the time he wrote his
book. As such, he did not like some of the basic doctrines of Pastor Russell and the Bible
Students. Yet his writing reflected a profound admiration for their Christian maturity.
Jehovah's
Witnesses founded in 1931
Now that
three-quarters of the Bible Students of Pastor Russell's era were purged and the remainder
of the Bible Students submitted to the doctrinal changes, a new movement could be founded.
In 1931, fifteen years after Pastor Russell's death, Jehovah's Witnesses was founded. Its
founder, Joseph Rutherford, presented a startling resolution entitled "A New
Name," which was adopted at their international convention on July 26, 1931. The
resolution first observed that neither "Russellites" nor "Bible
Students" were any longer appropriate names (certainly not, as over 75 per cent of
Bible Students from Pastor Russell's era had already separated). Henceforth they would
call themselves "Jehovah's Witnesses." 20 Joseph Rutherford, not
Pastor Russell, founded Jehovah's Witnesses. Pastor Russell died in 1916. Jehovah's
Witnesses was founded in 1931. Pastor Russell founded the Bible Students who still affirm
his teachings. Rutherford rejected Russell's teachings, purged those Bible Students loyal
to Russell's ideals from his movement, rejected the name Bible Students and named his new
movement "Jehovah's Witnesses."
Chapter 4
We Are What We Believe
Actually,
"Jehovah's Witnesses" is a scriptural concept repeated three times in chapters
43 and 44 of Isaiah. The Prophet Isaiah is obviously speaking of the Jewish People, and
the Bible Students have always understood it that way. Who else was once delivered from
Egypt, at one time offered sacrifices and were to be regathered from all over the world to
their homeland?
I give Egypt as a
ransom for you...Because you are precious to Me...Fear not, for I am with you: I will
bring your folk from the East, will gather you out of the West; I will say to the North,
"Give back!" and to the South, "Do not withhold! Bring My sons from afar,
and My daughters from the end of the earth...That men may say, 'it is true!' My
witnesses are you -- declares the LORD...And no strange god was among you. So you are My
witnesses--declares the LORD....But hear, now O Jacob My servant, Israel whom I have
chosen! Thus said the LORD, your Maker, Your Creator who has helped you since birth...Do
not be frightened, do not be shaken! Have I not from of old predicted to you'? I foretold,
and you are My witnesses." -- Isaiah 43:3-5,10,12; 44:1,2,8
The Jewish People
are the true "witnesses" of Jehovah. What are the implications of someone else
taking over this name'?
Replacement
Theology
The stage was now
set for "replacement theology." When Rutherford's second volume of Vindication
was published, it proclaimed that "fleshly Israel," the Jews, was eternally
rejected as the people of God and replaced by the New Israel -- Rutherford's Jehovah's
Witnesses! Rutherford thereby embraced replacement theology -- that traditional error of
both Roman and Orthodox Catholics as well as the historic Protestant denominations.
Replacement theology, of course, applies all the scriptures that speak of future blessings
to "Israel" as promises applicable to Christians only. And Rutherford's
extension of this distortion applied these scriptures exclusively to Christians who are
Jehovah's Witnesses. (However, it is interesting to note that all scriptures pertaining to
punishment of "Israel" are retained by replacement theology as applicable to the
Jewish People.)
Just as replacement theology justified, if not inspired, anti-Semitism for over 1900 years
of Christian history, the inevitable naturally happened. Judge Rutherford sent a condoning
letter to Hitler. How did this happen?
In June of 1933 an extremely distressing incident occurred. The following is a quote from
the 1934 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses: 21 22
In June, the
president [Judge Rutherford] of the Society visited Germany to take some action to get the
Society's property restored to our [Jehovah's Witnesses'] possession and to carry on the
work further. Knowing that the enemy has misrepresented the facts to the [Nazi]
government, a Declaration of Facts was prepared, and on the 25th day of' June, 1933, more
than 7,000 of Jehovah's witnesses assembled at Berlin and unanimously adopted the
resolution, millions of which were printed and distributed throughout Germany. That
resolution [in part] is as follows, to wit:
It is falsely charged by our enemies that we have received support for our work from the
Jews. Nothing is farther from the truth. Up to this moment there never has been the
slightest bit of money contributed to our work by Jews. The greatest and most oppressive
empire on earth is the Anglo-American empire. By this is meant the British Empire, of
which the United States of America forms a part. It has been the commercial Jews of
British-American Empire that have built up and carried Big Business as a means of
exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations. This fact particularly applies to
the cities of London and New York, the stronghold of Big Business. This fact is so
manifest in America that there is a proverb concerning the city of New York which says:
"the Jews own it, the Irish Catholics rule it, and the Americans pay the
bills." We have no fight with any of these persons mentioned but, as witnesses for
Jehovah and in obedience to his commandment set forth in the Scriptures, we are compelled
to call attention to the truth concerning the same in order that the people may be
enlightened concerning God and his purpose [emphasis ours]...
"This
Declaration was mailed to every high officer of the government [Nazi Germany] from the
president down to the members of the counsel" explains the book, Jehovah's
Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, published by Jehovah's Witnesses in 1957. 23
This mailing to every "high officer," of course, included Hitler who was
chancellor appointed by the president.
In addition to defaming the League of Nations, the Declaration also concurred with the
Nazi government when it said: 24
The present
government of Germany has declared against Big Business oppressors [of America and
Britain] and in opposition to the wrongful religious influence in the political affairs of
the nation. Such is exactly our position...
But then Judge
Rutherford (who was really only a lawyer) made a fatal mistake in his case by saying: 25
Instead of being
against the principles advocated by the government of Germany, we stand squarely for such
principles, and point out that Jehovah God through Christ Jesus will bring about the full
realization of these principles.
But by stating
that only God could accomplish the "realization of these principles," he implied
Hitler could not! This slip was not good. Hitler came down harder than ever on the
Jehovah's Witnesses.
What Irony
The Nazi crackdown
on Jehovah's Witnesses, however, began before Rutherford's self-defeating Declaration of
anti-Semitism. Of course, 1933 was only two years after Rutherford started his new
movement of Jehovah's Witnesses based on replacement theology. Rutherford's new anti-Jew,
anti Zionist position was not yet known by the German government. To the Nazi government,
Rutherford's Bible Students were still known as the zealous, Jew-loving Zionists from
Pastor Russell's day.
Setting the
Record Straight
As one progresses
through the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., one is filled with an
overwhelming weight of depression because of the record of unbelievable atrocities on the
Jewish People. Then, after almost left in a total stupor of shock, one comes upon yet
another section entitled, "Other Enemies of the State." Here gypsies,
Freemasons, homosexuals -- and Jehovah's Witnesses are mentioned. In another display of
the badges the Nazis forced people to wear in addition to the Star of David -- is one
badge which simply says. "Bible Student."
At the section on Jehovah's Witnesses, one learns why they were persecuted by the Nazis.
Incredibly, one of the main reasons cited in the exhibit why Jehovah's Witnesses offended
the state was because they believed in Zionism -- the return of the Jew to his homeland by
God as prophesied in the Bible.
In any case, by the time the intelligence that Rutherford's new movement of Jehovah's
Witnesses believed Jews were eternally rejected of God reached Hitler -- der Fuhrer
thought it was a sham, a cover-up.
The Bible
Students
But there was
another side of the coin. The Bible Students were also in Germany -- completely separated
from Rutherford's new movement. Many of them had separated from Rutherford's Jehovah's
Witnesses as far back as 1918. These Bible Students were the true Zionist-believing Bible
Students. And they willingly suffered persecution from Hitler because they would not
disown the Jewish People or their Christian faith.
Thus the Jehovah's Witnesses were a completely new creation of its founder Joseph
Rutherford. His doctrine of replacement theology, as with other so-called Christians,
carried the cruelest implications for the Jewish People. Rutherford's blatant
anti-Semitism which congratulated and encouraged the greatest Jew-hater of all times --
Adolf Hitler -- was not able to save his own people.
From Rutherford's perspective, the Jewish People are not and never will be the people of
God: That favored lot was lost forever. What makes Jehovah's Witnesses a different
movement completely detached from Pastor Russell's is its claim that Jehovah's Witnesses
are the new Israel. (The original Israel are now actually considered Gentiles alienated
from God.) The only way for any Jew to return to God, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses
to this day, is by becoming a Christian -- a Jehovah's Witness Christian to be exact.
How diametrically opposed was this view to Pastor Russell's message to the Jews (as
already observed):
A voice is
sounding from the wilderness and Jews everywhere are hearkening to it. It does not call
them to become Christians, but to remain Jews and to realize as Jews the ideals set before
them by the Lord in the Law and by the Prophets.
Chapter 5
Salvation: Narrow vs. Broad
Pastor Russell's
Bible Students get flak from both evangelical Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses. Shortly
after their founding in 1931, Jehovah's Witnesses developed a "narrow salvation"
theology similar to evangelical Christians. Both have taught anyone who rejects their
Messiah is eternally lost. This places both evangelicals and Jehovah's Witnesses poles
apart from Pastor Russell and the Bible Students' "broad salvation" theology.
This salvation by fear is so essential to the growth of evangelical churches that they
lash out at anyone who opposes their cruel, narrow concept for gaining eternity. And Bible
Students continually oppose it -- loudly and clearly.
In response, some evangelical clergy today use the same old, worn-out vilifications that
doom-and-gloom ministers in Russell's day desperately concocted. Why? Sheer jealousy! The
people clamored to hear him. Pastor Russell's "opposition" lamented that his
writings had a "greater newspaper circulation every week ... than the combined
circulation of all the priests and preachers of North America." 26 The
evangelical clergy not only hated his Gospel of love, but also his popularity. They felt
helpless before his worldwide acclaim. "Since the days of Henry Ward Beecher and Dr.
Talmage," The Christian Globe (May 5, 1910) states, "no preacher has
occupied so prominent a position in the United States as Pastor Russell of Brooklyn
Tabernacle holds today." Again, The London Graphic (April 8, 1911) describes
Pastor Russell: "The advent of Pastor Russell brings to this city and country a man
of international reputation, who is known almost as well in Great Britain as he is
in America...who is reputed to be the most popular preacher in America [emphasis
added]." To this day, there is a hill in India still named "Russell's Hill"
where thousands had flocked to hear him.
Why this popularity? Because Pastor Russell's message gave hope in contrast to those
doomsday preachers. Every Jew, Hindu. Moslem, etc., even Christian, who does not accept their
particular brand of Christianity before death, is, they say, damned to an eternity of
torment. These preachers of inevitable doom both in Russell's day and today hold in
contempt the Gospel of love taught by Pastor Russell and the Bible Student movement he
founded.
Christian Groups
Who Support Israel
Regretfully to
say, many in the International Christian Embassy who support Israel and other sincere
Christians groups who support the settlements in Samaria and Judea are actually
evangelical doomsdayers. They believe every Jew (or anyone else) who does not accept Jesus
before they die are damned eternally. How ironic that some evangelicals attempt to
stigmatize Bible Students by calling them Jehovah's Witnesses -- when in reality on the
basic doctrine of salvation, evangelicals are closer to Jehovah's Witnesses than are Bible
Students! Then too, many Christian groups are very interested in supporting Israel because
they feel that in that way they will help hasten the time when Jesus would come again and
set up his Kingdom. But in the final analysis, though, the Jews through the centuries, the
Jews who died in the Holocaust and most Jews living when Jesus would return, they say,
would be lost anyway. (Not much of a destiny for the Jewish People here.)
But most evangelicals and Jehovah's Witnesses do believe in some sort of future Kingdom of
God on earth -- the Messianic Age. But will they ever be surprised how Israelitish the
Messianic Age will be when they see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King David and all of
Israel's faith heroes of old leading the nation of Israel as a light to the Gentiles!
Arise, shine, for
your light has dawned, The Presence of the LORD has shone upon you...And nations
shall walk by your light, Kings, by your shining radiance...The riches of nations
shall flow to you...Aliens shall rebuild your walls, their kings shall wait upon you --
For in anger I struck you down, But in favor I take you back. Your gates shall always stay
open -- Day and night they shall never be shut -- To let in the wealth of nations, With
their kings in procession. For the nation or kingdom that does not serve you shall perish;
such nations shall be destroyed. -- Isaiah 60:1-3,5,10-12
Can the Jewish
community of today have the faith enough to believe this vision of the Messianic Age --
when the nations of the world are threatening or at best pressing down on them? Can the
Jewish community of today appreciate that the purpose of this extraordinary place in the
Messianic Age is to help the nations learn about Israel's God?
In the days to
come, the Mount of the LORD'S house shall stand firm above the mountains and tower above
the hills; and all the nations shall gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go
and say: "Come, let us go up to the Mount of the LORD, to the house of the God of
Jacob, that He may instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths,"
For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem... --
Isaiah 2:2-3
Lest there be any
question regarding who is teaching whom in Jerusalem, can the anyone doubt the Prophets?
Peoples and the
inhabitants of many cities shall yet come -- the inhabitants of one shall go to the other
and say, "Let us go and entreat the favor of the Lord, let us seek the LORD of Hosts;
I will go, too." The many peoples and the multitude of nations shall come to seek the
LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD. Thus said the LORD of
Hosts: In those days, ten men from nations of every tongue will take hold -- they will
take hold of every Jew by a corner of his cloak and say, "Let us go with you, for we
have heard that God is with you." -- Zechariah 8:20-23
The Gentiles shall
one day appreciate the Jewish People's destiny. Jehovah's Witnesses and Evangelicals and
all Christians alike, for the most part, will change their views and enthusiastically
rejoice with the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel. But for now -- We as Bible
Students will not be silent in our encouragement while standing by the Jewish People. We
as Bible Students will not be silent until the time when Jerusalem is established forever
in God's Kingdom...
For the sake of
Zion I will not be silent, for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still, till her victory
emerge resplendent...Nations shall see your victory...You shall be a glorious crown in
the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the palm of your God. Nevermore shall you be
called "Forsaken"...For the Lord takes delight in you, and your land shall be
espoused...Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, who shall never be silent by
day or by night. O you, the Lord's remembrancers, Take no rest and give no rest to Him, until
He establish Jerusalem and make her renowned on earth. -- Isaiah 62:1-4,6-7
End Notes
1. Brete Harte,
The Overland Monthly February 1909
2. Moment, October 1996 / Tishri 5757, 50.
3. Herzl Year Book, Volume 5, edited by Raphael Patal (New York: Herzl Press, 1963), 184.
4. Ibid., 184, Footnote.
5. Charles T. Russell, "Zionism in Prophecy," Pastor Russell's Sermons,
(Brooklyn: People's Pulpit Association, 1917), 482.
6. Ibid., 188.
7. Reprints (Chicago: Chicago Bible Students, Book Republishing Committee), 1966, 4735.
8. Arthur Hertzberg The Zionist Idea, (New York: 1966), 515-516.
9. Reprints, 5568.
10. Herzl Yearbook 189.
11. Franklyn Hudgings, Zionism in Prophecy, 4.
12. David Horowitz, Pastor Charles Taze Russell: An Early American Christian Zionist (New
York: Philosophical Library, 1986), 73.
13. The Jerusalem Post, February 11, 1993.
14. Horowitz (back jacket).
15. Herzl Year Book 190.
16. William Schnell, Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1963), 40,41.
17. Ibid,, 41.
18. Ibid., 42.
19. Ibid., 43.
20. Ibid., 39.
21. Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society, 1993), 155,156.
22. 1934 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
1933), 130,131.
23. Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society, 1959), 130.
24. 1934 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, 134.
25. Ibid., 135.
26. Ibid., 135
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