And I will speak with them my judgments over all their badness, in that they have left me and they keep making sacrificial smoke to other gods and bowing down to the works of their own hands.”’”​—Jer. 1:13-16.

9. What spillages of the symbolic “cooking pot” did Jeremiah see poured out upon the land of Judah?

⁹ The contents of the symbolic cooking pot that Jehovah would dump out upon the land of Judah would be “all the families of the kingdoms of the north.” Babylon would therefore be the leading figure in this invasion of the land of Judah, for the Babylonian Empire was then rising to become the Third World Power of Bible prophecy. Jeremiah as prophet had to wait 27 years before he saw that symbolic cooking pot pour out its first invasion of the land of Judah by Babylon’s military forces, in 620 B.C.E. Three years later there came another spillage of the symbolic cooking pot with a second invasion by the Babylonians, and Jeremiah finally came under the kingship of Zedekiah the vassal of Emperor Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Then came Zedekiah’s revolt, and in 609 B.C.E. the symbolic cooking pot was completely turned over for a third and final spillage of Babylonian hordes upon the cities of Judah.a In the summer of 607 B.C.E. the “calamity” reached its peak in the destruction of Jerusalem. By early autumn of that year all the land of Judah was left desolate.

10. The Jeremiah class expect to witness what was foreshadowed by that ancient “calamity” visited upon whom?

¹⁰ Those of the Jeremiah class today expect to witness what was foreshadowed by that ancient “calamity”! Yes, they expect to see “calamity” upon a far greater scale befall Christendom, the modern counterpart of renegade Jerusalem and the land of Judah.

11. How does the Bible searchlight reveal Christendom’s “badness” to be like that of renegade Jerusalem and Judah?

¹¹ Age-old Christendom is marked by ‘all the badness’ that perverted ancient Jerusalem and the land of Judah. The Bible searchlight, when turned upon Christendom, reveals that, in spite of Jehovah’s Ten Commandments, she sacrifices to “other gods.” Yes, she worshipfully bows down to the work of human hands. She professes to be Christian, but she does not imitate Jesus Christ in being separate from this ungodly world. She is pervaded with the divisive, war-breeding nationalism of the day. Let a national crisis come along, and she shows herself to be a worshiper of the political State, the work of human hands. The vast wealth of the churches of Christendom brands her as a worshiper of materialism. Active friendship with this world makes her Jehovah’s enemy!

12. Of what did Jehovah forewarn Jeremiah, and what promise did Jehovah give him, for our encouragement also?

¹² Jeremiah of old had to point out that Jehovah was justified in pouring out national calamity upon the Israelites for breaking their holy covenant with him. Jehovah knew that what he began commanding Jeremiah in 647 B.C.E. to speak to the inhabitants of the land of Judah would not please the majority. So he forewarned Jeremiah by frankly telling him that the kings of the land, the princes, the priests and the people of Judah would fight against him. His very life would be threatened. So, what if Jehovah had not promised the young prophet that all these foes would not prevail against him? Would he have had the heart to carry on doggedly for 40 years as Jehovah’s “prophet to the nations” and finally see his vicious enemies go down in defeat? It is hard to think so! Jehovah’s promise to Jeremiah of old applies to the Jeremiah class of today and to their supporters!

13. In view of what pile of charges against Christendom is the symbolic “cooking pot” boiling against her?

¹³ Jehovah’s symbolic “cooking pot” for this “time of the end” is boiling today. As in the case of the “seven golden bowls that were full of the anger of God” as seen in Revelation 15:7, the “cooking pot” represents the container of the full-scale “calamity” from Jehovah upon Christendom. Christendom certainly has a pile of immoralities for which Jehovah must call her to account inasmuch as she claims to be in the “new covenant” with him through Christ. He now finds her hands drenched with the blood of two world wars, besides her violent persecution of his Christian witnesses. Appropriately it is His words as set forth in Jeremiah 2:34 that the Jeremiah class of today direct against Christendom, namely: “In your skirts there have been found the blood marks of the souls of the innocent poor ones. Not in the act of breaking in [on the part of the poor innocent ones like burglars] have I found them, but they are upon all these [skirts].”​—See The Watch Tower under date of November 1, 1923, page 327, paragraph 3 (6).

14. (a) Why is Christendom the most reprehensible part of the world empire of false religion? (b) What will Jehovah spill out upon her from his symbolic “cooking pot”?

¹⁴ Before the gaze of the whole world Christendom still flaunts the evidences of her death-dealing course of action. She is the most reprehensible part of the world empire of false religion, for she claims to act in the name of Christianity or in the name of the religion now approved by the God of the Bible. Because of her disgraceful example, no wonder that the non-Christian world has no respect for what professes to be Christian! By Christendom the God of the Bible has been presented in a false light. Her guilt is not hid from his eyes. He will deservedly punish it openly in full. But first he has raised up the Jeremiah class to call the attention of everybody to the apostate, adulterous course of this the world’s biggest religious organization. Toward it Jehovah has tilted the wide mouth of his symbolic “cooking pot.” The hour approaches when He will turn it completely over and spill out his heavenly executional forces upon this modern counterpart of apostate, adulterous Jerusalem and land of Judah. Destruction will thus overtake this chief defamer of His holy name.​—Jer. 1:14-16.

15. Why must the Jeremiah class keep hips girded and stay active on foot, and until when?

¹⁵ All the work of the Jeremiah class is not yet over. Those of this class must keep their hips girded and stay active on their feet until their commissioned work is completed. All the “great crowd” of Christians who actively support the Jeremiah class must keep working with them. The Jeremiah class still needs to stand immovable like an “iron pillar” and a “fortified city” with “copper walls.” This is what Jeremiah of old did. Jesus Christ was not one whit behind Jeremiah in declaring the impending destruction of the Jerusalem of his day, which destruction came 676 years after the Jerusalem of Jeremiah’s day perished. As anointed followers of Jesus Christ the Jeremiah class of today must do the same thing, until they witness the destruction of the antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem and Judah of our times.

16. Like Jesus, the Jeremiah class must declare what two themes?

¹⁶ Like Jesus, the Jeremiah class must declare, not just the “acceptable time,” “the year of goodwill on the part of Jehovah,” but also “the day of vengeance on the part of our God.”​—Isa. 61:1, 2; 49:6; 2 Cor. 6:2; Jer. 11:20; 20:12; 46:10; Luke 21:22, Authorized Version.