dramatic? Yes! Here we find another interesting parallel between the expressions used by Jesus and the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah was inspired to foretell the dramatic fall and destruction of the Babylonian dynasty of kings. It was such a terrific reversal that, so to speak, the kings of the other nations, each lying in state in his niche in the great pit of Sheol, are pictured as waking up and craning their necks in astonishment at the arrival of the “king of Babylon,” saying: “Have you yourself also been made weak like us? . . . Down to Sheol your pride has been brought . . . Beneath you, maggots are spread out as a couch; and worms are your covering.” Furthermore, this one does not join the other kings in a niche of his own, but is “thrown away without a burial place . . . , like a carcass trodden down.” (Isa. 14:4, 10, 11, 19) In the Authorized Version and many other versions, the “king of Babylon” is named “Lucifer” at Isaiah 14:12 and is generally understood to refer to Satan the Devil. Taking such a view, this means that Satan, instead of ruling over hell and keeping its fires burning, is rejected and debased even in his own domain. No wonder that Christendom’s commentators do not heavily rely on this prophecy for support for their eternal torment doctrine.

21. Are Jesus’ parables intended to be taken literally? If not, what is their purpose?

²¹ No, there is no warrant, either from the viewpoint of Scripture or reason, for concluding that Jesus was now suddenly giving a literal account of what takes place. An illustration, or parable, is an allegorical narrative, a pictorial representation of certain truths or events. Consistent with his other illustrations, Jesus was here using a vivid word picture or story to portray something, in this case something already happening to two classes of people. To ascertain the true meaning of what was thus portrayed in this particular illustration, both in Jesus’ time and in our own day, we must leave to a subsequent issue of The Watchtower.

A Political Union Doomed from Its Start

AN OLD saying is: “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” It is true​—there is much rivalry in politics and generally very little unity. But when something threatens their way of operation or exposes the general corruption existing in politics, or if it in some way seems to stand in the way of their plans, they join forces with erstwhile rivals or even enemies and distastefully work together to overcome what they consider a common threat. If their temporary cooperation succeeds, then they split up again and resume their bickering and fighting.

The Bible is not subjectively concerned with politics and Christians have never had anything to do with it, but the Bible