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8/20/2019 Watchtower: The Fall of Babylon, 1917
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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
443
8/20/2019 Watchtower: The Fall of Babylon, 1917
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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-