and like a terebinth which, when felled, have a stock in them, a holy seed shall be the stock thereof.”—Isa. 6:13, Ro; AS.

¹⁷ That “tenth” appears to be the faithful spiritual remnant of Jehovah’s witnesses, who were pictured by the faithful Jewish remnant that returned to the land of the formerly unfaithful Judah and Jerusalem and renewed the pure worship of God there. The remnant, who are the last of God’s “holy nation” on earth, are a “holy seed”, “a sacred race” (Mo). Just as an oak or a turpentine tree which is felled leaves a stump that will sprout again at the scent of water, so this holy seed will remain like a stock in the earth and will sprout again after the devastations of Armageddon. (Job 14:7-9) Surviving with them will be the great flock of “other sheep”, who have turned to Jehovah and his kingdom by Christ and who have been healed, to correspond with Ebed-melech and the Rechabites who survived Jerusalem’s first destruction with Jeremiah. Thus Jehovah’s pure worship will sprout again under most favorable conditions after Armageddon and will spread to the ends of the earth. Then ‘the whole earth will be full of Jehovah’s glory’, just as the seraphs at the temple foretold.

18. In view of His commission, what is the course for us?

¹⁸ In view of our divine commission from the temple there is no stopping for us as his witnesses until Armageddon strikes Christendom and the opportunity for her adherents to repent is up. On we go, then, proclaiming the message, while we “consider the patience of our Lord as salvation”, both for ourselves and for those who hear us.—2 Pet. 3:15, NW.

African Chieftain Recognizes Shepherd’s Voice

● Hearing that there was to be a great assembly of the people from different places at the kraal [native community] of one of the Paramount chiefs and that he was to be present also, I arranged with some brothers to witness to the people gathered there. While witnessing an official whom I knew arranged for me to be among the speakers that were to address the assembly the following Sunday. Sunday we came and gathered outside the kraal’s yard. There was an attendance of more than 600 people. We were surprised to see representatives of various creeds and denominations present. The first to deliver some talks were the Abafundisi [local religious cult]. They dealt with the resurrection of Christ, as it was Easter Sunday with them. I was then called upon. I stood up and gave my talk, “Peace on Earth, When?” First of all I noticed that they were surprised that I had chosen this topic instead of one having to do with Easter. Afterward they all attentively listened and some of them nodded their heads. When I looked at the Paramount chief I noticed that he was smiling—it was apparent that he is a man who likes Bible facts. It seemed that the time would not allow me to finish my talk. While I was still talking, the chief indicated that I should be given more time. After I concluded two others spoke. After that the chief stood up and summarized the talks. First he thanked me for coming and for telling his people the truth. He then told the audience that I was the only one who was able to convince those who, like himself, love the Bible truth. He then discounted what the Abafundisi told the people by stating that the Bible showed that these were misleading the people. He also gave us an invitation to speak at a great gathering that was to be held at his royal kraal.

—Mbabane, Swaziland