Q: How can you expect us to believe that Jehovah wants us to preach lies to our neighbours? . . . I hope he will forgive me for having taking part in that for over twenty years.
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A: By “lies” I take it that you are referring to the controversial year of 1914, and what we have been taught in connection with it, such as God’s kingdom having been born at that time, as you mention it in you letter.

Whether it is about 1914 or any other matter that we may have gotten wrong up until now, the question can be rightly asked: Should we be preaching at all at this time, or wait until we are absolutely certain that we have and understand correctly the whole range of truths? Having had a share in the preaching work for such a long time, you are of course familiar with the scripture where Jesus foretold, “And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come,” or according to Mark, “in all the nations the good news has to be preached first.” (Matt. 24:14; Mark 13:10) Therefore, the “good news of the kingdom” must be preached, as foretold, before the end comes. I am sure that you had many joyous times and blessings during those twenty years when you participated in that preaching of the good news, because Jehovah has build joy into the doing of his will. So, what has changed?

Is the preaching of the good news of the kingdom now invalid because we have gotten details wrong? For how long has Jehovah been aware that we have been mistaken on some matters that we have made a part of our message? Just recently? About the same time you discovered it? Or has he known it all along? If Jehovah has known it from the beginning, has he made an issue of it as yet? Have not literally millions heard the message of the good news of the kingdom and responded to it by becoming worshipers of Jehovah? Perhaps, you yourself helped some of them during your many years as a proclaimer of the good news. Will they remain worshipers of Jehovah, when they discover that some of the things they were taught to believe have not been accurate and will, at Jehovah’s due time, be corrected, at the time when he will refine his people? (Zeph. 3:8,9; Zech. 13:9)

 

Please, bear in mind that the preaching of the good news of the kingdom is from Jehovah. He sent his Son, Jesus, to preach that good news. That is why the scripture tells us that, right from the beginning of his ministry, “Jesus commenced preaching and saying, ‘Repent, you people, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’” (Matt. 4:17) Where did Jesus get his message from? He said, “I have not spoken out of my own impulse, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to tell and what to speak.” And how important was it for him to preach this message? “Also, I know that this commandment means everlasting life. Therefore the things I speak, just as the Father has told me [them], so I speak [them].” (John 12:49,50)

Jesus taught his followers to also preach the kingdom good news. (Matt. 10:5-7; Luke 10:1,29-11) The first century Christians understood the importance of the preaching work. (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1,2) Although they were zealously fulfilling their assignment they certainly did not have a complete understanding concerning all the details of what it was that they were preaching. (Acts 1:7; Col. 1:23) Although some may have included their own ideas, that certainly did not make their preaching invalid. (Acts 15:1; 1 Tim. 6:20,21; 2 Tim. 2:18)

Jehovah has provided us with all the information we need in order to preach the simple message about his kingdom. And Jesus set us the example to not speak out of our “own impulse.” He himself only spoke the things his Father had told him. Has Jehovah not warned us many times not to go beyond the things written? (Prov. 30:5,6; 1 Cor. 4:6) And yet time and again we are eager to speak out of our own impulse, express our own personal opinions and understanding on matters that we then incorporate into our message regarding the good news of the kingdom. As can be seen, there are consequences in doing this. We may become a stumbling block to others or we may even be stumbled ourselves. But as I already said, that certainly does not invalidate the preaching assignment.

We must keep in mind that Satan does not want the good news of the kingdom to be preached, a message that centers on God’s means to bring peace and blessings to all mankind. It also exposes the Devil as the source of all the world’s woes. How can he stop it? He has tried everything: forbidding the preaching (Acts 4:18-20); persecution (Acts 8:1); intimidation, by causing suffering or even death to some proclaimers of the good news, hoping to scare others into quitting (Acts 12:12:1-5; 1 Peter 5:8). Satan has seen how these outright attacks upon God’s people have not proven very successful over the centuries, because of their faith in Jehovah and the message they preach. But he has always been quite effective by undermining that faith. By raising doubts in a person’s mind concerning the truthfulness, or the benefits, of what one has been told, he has succeeded in turning people away from obeying Jehovah. It worked for him the first time he tried that approach, in the Garden of Eden, when he planted doubts in Eve’s mind by getting her to question God’s simply stated command.

What would Satan have to do to get us to stop participating in the preaching of the only good news there is for all mankind? Persecution? Intimidation? Threats? Laws that forbid us to preach? How about the offering of some material possession? How much money would he have to offer you, for you to agree to stop preaching? Oh, you say you couldn’t be bought? What if some brother told you that we don’t need to preach? Or that the preaching work is finished, done, completed? Would any of these scenarios succeed in getting you to stop participating in what you know is an assignment from Jehovah, until “the end will come”? That is what many of our brothers in Europe faced during the Second World War, and a few actually did stop for the various reasons mentioned. Of course, Satan is still busy using them.

Today we can add another reason to the list: Some brothers tell us that the preaching work is still future, and that it is Jehovah’s will to preach the good news of the kingdom only after we have a correct understanding of all prophecies and we have been enlightened with the real truth. It seems that this tactic of Satan’s has proved very effective in influencing many former zealous preachers to slow down or quit altogether sharing in the preaching, putting it off for now until the anticipated future time. But what if the end comes instead? They have started to doubt the truthfulness of the simple message itself.

Do not allow others to cause you to doubt the importance of the preaching work. Stick with what you know for certain about God’s kingdom and what it will mean for obedient mankind. After all, it is a simple message that appeals to all right-hearted ones. Do not complicate it with matters that you feel are not scripturally proven at this time. Jehovah will not be displeased for obeying him by being active in the preaching assignment, even when we haven’t got all the details right. And he will not ignore the hard work of all those who shared in it. After sending seventy of his disciples out to preach the “kingdom of God” Jesus told them, “the worker is worthy of his wages.” (Luke 10:7; 1 Tim. 5:18; compare Matthew 25:14-30) Be assured that Jehovah will reward those who obey his command to preach and who do not allow Satan to slow them down or stop them from doing so. “Look! Jehovah himself has caused [it] to be heard to the farthest part of the earth: “Say, YOU people, to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look! Your salvation is coming. Look! The reward he gives is with him, and the wages he pays are before him.’”” (Isaiah 62:11)


 

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