Practical Wisdom in the Space Age

“The making of wisdom succeed means advantage.”—Eccl. 10:10.

1. Despite man’s plunge into the “space age” recently, why must there be something faulty about his wisdom?

RECENTLY man’s wisdom plunged him into what he calls “the space age.” Yet man’s wisdom has not opened for him the way to heaven. By hundreds of thousands of miles man, by means of his instruments, has penetrated into outer space to learn some of its secrets. Despite all this wisdom, man has not gained access into heaven, the home of God. By all his probing into the bottomless depths of space scientific man is not even interested in learning more about God, the Creator. Is there not, then, something faulty about man’s “space age” wisdom? Is it practical?

2, 3. (a) How does scientific man probing into deep space show himself to be like the unreasoning cow? (b) To what words of Solomon does he take no heed?

² The farther that inquiring man reaches into deep space with rockets and satellites equipped with measuring instruments, the more he is confronted with the evidence that there is one God of all creation, that God is, that the intelligent Creator of all the universe is. Man is obliged to see and acknowledge the wisdom, the understanding, the knowledge and the discernment with which all the universe came into existence. But reliance upon his own wisdom and pride in his own accomplishments make man unreasonable, just like a dumb brute beast. A cow in the field looks at the wonders of earth and sky but cannot appreciate that there is a supreme, all-powerful, all-wise Creator who made and arranged all these glorious things in all their array and harmony. So the prideful man of science in the space age has become. He sees, but he reasons not and understands not. He wants to avoid the fact that there is a God to whom he is responsible and whose will he should seek to know and to do. He therefore does not himself use qualities that he sees exhibited in the works of creation, and he proves his materialistic wisdom to be impractical. He takes no heed to the following words penned by a famous king who had practical wisdom thousands of years before the space age:

³ “Jehovah himself in wisdom founded the earth. He solidly fixed the heavens in discernment. By his knowledge the surging waters themselves were split apart, and the cloudy skies keep dripping down light rain. My son, may they [that is, wisdom, discernment and knowledge exhibited in God’s creation] not get away from your eyes. Safeguard practical wisdom and thinking ability.”—Prov. 3:19-21.

4, 5. (a) What reasons did King Solomon give for advising us to keep such faculties? (b) How do the reasons given by Solomon apply especially to this time?

⁴ But why should we keep such wisdom, discernment and knowledge before our mental eyes as being connected with Jehovah God as the Creator? Why safeguard the wisdom that is practical, and why hold onto our thinking ability, not letting it be regimented by domineering, self-seeking men? The king of practical wisdom continued writing to explain why, saying: “And they will prove to be life to your soul and charm to your throat. In that case you will walk in security on your way, and even your foot will not strike against anything. Whenever you lie down you will feel no dread, and you will certainly lie down and your sleep will certainly be pleasurable. You will not need to be afraid of any sudden dreadful thing, nor of the storm upon the wicked ones, because it is coming. For Jehovah himself will prove to be, in effect, your confidence, and he will certainly keep your foot against capture.”—Prov. 3:22-26.

⁵ Such benefits from practical wisdom, discernment, knowledge and thinking ability in connection with Jehovah God are indeed needed in this time of fear of surprise attack, of a shower of death from the skies, of a violent death to our souls from outer space or from deep submarine levels of the great oceans. Aside from such things of man’s causing, there is the universal war of Armageddon that is coming like a storm upon all those who are wicked in God’s sight. The military scientists freely admit they have no defense against missile warfare. Much less so have they against Armageddon.

6, 7. (a) That it is useless to look to man to teach practical wisdom was shown by what Columbia University student recently? (b) In dismissing the suit how did the Superior Court judge rule against looking to things human for wisdom?

⁶ In the face of such manifest lack of discernment and understanding on the part of the scientists of this space age, it is of no use to look to man himself for practical wisdom that will mean a secure life for us in happiness and peace. Here, now, is something of an illustration of this. A young man of the State of New Jersey attended the Columbia University in New York city. Later he sued the university at law for his tuition money and damages for the time that he had spent at Columbia University as a student. Why? The New York World Telegram and Sun reports: “He claimed Columbia detained him by falsely professing to teach wisdom.”

⁷ Superior Court Judge Gerald Foley dismissed the suit on June 13, 1958. Said he: “If there is one thing a person of ordinary intelligence knows, it is that wisdom cannot be taught, if indeed, it can even be defined.” Then the judge made a powerful reference to human inability when he concluded with these words: “No rational person would accept the claim of any man or institution that wisdom can be taught and no rational person would draw from the material [presented in this legal case] that Columbia conveyed the impression that it could or would teach wisdom.” However, the New York World Telegram and Sun reported that the former Columbia University student is unsatisfied and says “he will appeal the dismissal of his suit charging the institution with failing to teach him wisdom.”—June 14, 1958.

8, 9. (a) From where was the Superior Court judge not in position to say that man alone gets wisdom? (b) From where did Solomon acknowledge that he got his wisdom, and what did he say of its benefits?

⁸ We have every reason to believe that the Appeals Court will affirm the sane ruling of this Superior Court judge, that wisdom cannot be taught by any worldly institution of man. It was not within the province of this judge of a nonreligious court to say that wisdom comes only from the heavenly source, that is to say, from Jehovah God, whose four main personal qualities are wisdom, justice, power and love. It was God who, in the first place, implanted in man what wisdom man possesses; and thus man was created on the human level in the image and likeness of God his Maker. So man ought to display more common sense than a cow, now in this “space age” especially. Man ought to get some of the understanding and discernment that wise King Solomon had, which is written down and preserved for us in the Bible book of Proverbs. King Solomon knew from where he got his wisdom, and he was humble and thankful enough to confess it. In Proverbs 2:6-22 he wrote down:

⁹ “Jehovah himself gives wisdom; out of his mouth there are knowledge and discernment. And for the upright ones he will treasure up practical wisdom; for those walking in integrity he is a shield, by observing the paths of judgment, and he will guard the very way of his men of loving-kindness. In that case you will understand righteousness and judgment and uprightness, the entire course of what is good. When wisdom enters into your heart and knowledge itself becomes pleasant to your very soul, thinking ability itself will keep guard over you, discernment itself will safeguard you, to deliver you from the bad way, from the man speaking perverse things, from those leaving the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, from those who are rejoicing in doing bad, who are joyful in the perverse things of badness; those whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their general course; to deliver you from the strange woman, from the foreign woman who has made her own sayings smooth, who is leaving the confidential friend of her youth and who has forgotten the very covenant of her God. . . . As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.”

10. How is man’s wisdom shown to be impractical, but how is the wisdom that we get and use from God shown to be practical?

¹⁰ Man’s wisdom in this “space age” has increased the dangers, the hazards for him and the threats to his very existence amid all the material advantages that he enjoys. It is therefore impractical wisdom. Not so the wisdom that Jehovah God gives, together with the knowledge, discernment and understanding that he also gives. These things from him help us to be upright and to walk in integrity according to a higher standard than man’s, according to God’s standard. Just think of having Almighty Jehovah God as our shield because we walk in this integrity. And if we are upright, just think of this God as treasuring up something for us, “practical wisdom,” or, really, the fruitage of practical wisdom, that is, an abiding success, an effectual working, the good effects of our working. In this way we never come to a real loss; we are never wasting or misapplying our efforts; we are laying up treasure with God. And this treasure has to do with eternity, for Jehovah God is eternal. “Even from time indefinite to time indefinite you are God,” said the prophet Moses to Him in worship. (Ps. 90:2) Our treasure is thus assured of being eternal, to time indefinite in the future just as far as Jehovah was God to time indefinite in the past, which means endlessly. Wisdom that brings such an abiding success is truly “practical wisdom,” sound and efficient wisdom. So practical wisdom means more than mere wisdom, such as man now has.

11. What did another man, nineteen hundred years ago, write to the Ephesians about wisdom?

¹¹ A thousand years after wise King Solomon, another man wrote about wisdom, a man whose writings have a circulation today greater than that of any living writer on earth. In his letter to the Ephesians, which is circulated in the pages of the Bible, this man, the apostle Paul of nineteen hundred years ago, wrote these words to his fellow Christians: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in union with Christ, . . . his loved one. By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness. This he caused to abound toward us in all wisdom [sophía, Greek] and good sense [phrónesis], in that he made known to us the sacred secret of his will. It is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself.”—Eph. 1:3-9.

“THE SACRED SECRET OF HIS WILL”

12. Why is it that the “space age” scientists have failed to get the blessings that are to be found in those “heavenly places”?

¹² The “space age” scientists have set off nuclear explosions some three hundred miles up in space and have sent man-made satellites into orbit around the sun and bounced radar signals off the planet Venus. They have not, however, penetrated into the “heavenly places in union with Christ.” That is why they have not come to know “every spiritual blessing” that is to be found in those heavens. This proves that it is not by means of materialistic science that we gain the spiritual blessings in those heavens. It is only by means of the way that God has arranged; it is only by means of his loved one, Jesus Christ. God’s way has to do with the blood of his Son, that is to say, with the pouring out of the perfect human life of Jesus Christ as a ransom sacrifice for us. Scientists who do not recognize the ransom sacrifice of God’s Son Jesus Christ cannot appreciate God’s undeserved kindness nor can they get the vital benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice. They cannot enjoy the blessing of release from the condemnation for their inborn sinful state. They cannot enjoy the blessing of the forgiveness of their trespasses by God against whom they continually trespass. Only in the riches of God’s undeserved kindness toward repentant sinners does he grant such a lifesaving blessing to us by means of Jesus Christ.

13. How is it “in all wisdom and good sense” that God has made his undeserved kindness abound toward us believers?

¹³ This undeserved kindness God has made abound toward us believers “in all wisdom and good sense, in that he made known to us the sacred secret of his will.” Not that he had done this in all wisdom and good sense on his own part, but that he has done this by imparting to us believers “all wisdom and good sense.” By this statement the apostle Paul emphasizes that God the Father of Jesus Christ is the source of all wisdom and good sense and consequently what measure we have of these qualities we have from God. Along with wisdom from him we have good sense, prudence, insight. Coupled with good sense, such wisdom is practical wisdom, because it is a wisdom that acts in harmony with the revealed will of God.

14. (a) How did Paul explain that God had not imparted His “wisdom in a sacred secret” to his enemies? (b) Hence what does his revealing of his sacred secret to us express?

¹⁴ With all the wisdom that worldly scientists have been accumulating over the centuries they have not been able to solve or unravel the “sacred secret” of God’s will, not to speak of the secret of what life is and how it is produced or gained. God’s will is a secret that he has held sacred to himself until his time to reveal his will or a particular part of his will. Even when he did reveal it, God did not choose to reveal it to everybody, friend and enemy alike. Says the apostle Paul: “We speak God’s wisdom in a sacred secret, the hidden wisdom, which God foreordained before the systems of things for our glory. This wisdom not one of the rulers of this system of things came to know, for if they had known it they would not have impaled the glorious Lord. But just as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, neither have there been conceived in the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.’ For it is to us God has revealed them through his spirit, for the spirit searches into all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:7-10) In line with that, King Solomon’s father, David, said: “The intimacy with Jehovah belongs to those fearful of him, also his covenant, to cause them to know it.” (Ps. 25:14) For this reason Jehovah’s revealing the sacred secret of his will to us expresses the riches of his undeserved kindness toward us. Therefore, oh how favored we are!

15. What is that sacred secret of God’s will as briefly explained by Paul to the Ephesians?

¹⁵ What is that sacred secret of God’s will? It is God’s purpose to have a certain administration of things. According to this administration he makes his Son Jesus Christ the head or chief one of his universal organization, so that all things in heaven and in earth must be gathered together under his glorified Son as their head. This is the administration that God sets up for his universal organization through his faithful exalted Son Jesus Christ. It is a theocratic arrangement of things, for it is an arrangement made by God and also God rules the arrangement, doing so through the one whom He made the head, his glorified Son. Thus his now revealed purpose is “for an administration at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth. Yes, in him, in union with whom we were also assigned as heirs, in that we were foreordained according to the purpose of him who operates all things according to the way his will counsels.”—Eph. 1:10-12.

16. Because of knowledge of this sacred secret, how can we act with wisdom and good sense?

¹⁶ Having this certain knowledge of his purpose and seeing that it circles around Jesus Christ his Son, we can act with all wisdom and good sense. Knowing that God “operates things according to the way his will counsels,” we can wisely keep in harmony with his will, and not be disappointed or frustrated by having our selfish plans and arrangements broken up because of their being contrary to God’s will. We will not be deceived into thinking that we are accomplishing something, that we are doing something big, that we are getting somewhere, when, as a matter of fact, we are ignoring God and not acting in line with his irresistible purpose and his arrangement for us to gain eternal life and enjoy a part under his theocratic administration in which Jesus Christ is head.

17, 18. (a) In view of the sacred secret concerning Christ, how do we display practical wisdom? (b) As to the creature’s highest position, how does Paul show who has the almighty backing of God?

¹⁷ However, since we have been informed of the sacred secret of God’s will regarding Christ, we can act with the wisdom and good sense that God gives along with that information. We can avoid what is not wise, what does not make good sense or what does not show prudence and insight when it is measured up against God’s will in Christ. We display practical wisdom, therefore, when we subject ourselves to Jesus Christ as God’s highly exalted one and follow him according to his teachings and instructions. Let scientists rocket a man into outer space if they can, yet no man, no creature in heaven or on earth, can get higher than God’s Son, Jesus Christ. No man can subject all nations and governments under himself and maintain his supreme position for all time. This is not God’s will for sinful man. No other creature fits in with the sacred secret of God’s will so as to be the anointed ruler in God’s kingdom. Only Jesus Christ does so. Hence only he has the almighty backing of the all-powerful God. That is why Paul said to the believers:

¹⁸ “I continue mentioning you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the accurate knowledge of him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know . . . what the surpassing greatness of his power is toward us believers. It is according to the operation of the mightiness of his strength, with which he has operated in the case of the Christ when he raised him up from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come. He also subjected all things under his feet, and made him head over all things to the congregation, which is his body.”—Eph. 1:16-23.

19. (a) How has the accurate knowledge concerning the holding and exercising of the world domination been revealed to us? (b) Why will no worldly political meeting or “space age” nation decide this matter?

¹⁹ What a wonderful, thrilling thing it is to know, then, who the one is whom the supreme, almighty God has appointed to hold and to exercise the world domination! On this point we have accurate knowledge, and we have had it revealed to us, not through the diplomatic channels of this world, not through the meetings of the heads of governments or of the foreign ministers of the governments of this world, but through God’s Word and under the enlightening force of his spirit. Jesus Christ our Lord is the one whom the Father of glory has seated in the kingdom of the long-promised new world, to rule in heaven and over the earth and all who are permitted to inhabit the earth. No summit meeting will decide this, no session of the Security Council or of the General Assembly of the United Nations will decide this. Neither will the nation or the military bloc of nations that has the greatest stock of missiles or that has made the greatest strides in the mastery of outer space decide this. It has already been decided, long ago, nineteen hundred years ago. And since A.D. 1914 the oft-foretold kingdom, whose anointed King fulfills the sacred secret of God, has been exercising the power and the dominion in the heavens far beyond the reach of man’s space rockets and satellites.

20. What further feature of God’s sacred secret will no gathering of politicians prevent?

²⁰ There is a further feature of God’s sacred secret, namely, to have associated with his King Jesus Christ in his heavenly kingdom a congregation of 144,000 faithful followers chosen by God from among men during this Christian era. No gathering of powerful politicians for deciding how the rulership of this earth is going to be split between them will prevent this feature either.

21, 22. (a) What vision of Daniel was fulfilled in 1914? (b) What further part of that vision as to world rulership will soon be fulfilled?

²¹ All the testimony gathered from Bible prophecy and from earthly events that fulfill prophecy is to this effect: That in the world-changing year of 1914 the vision that the prophet Daniel saw was fulfilled; “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

²² And soon now the further part of the vision concerning the congregation of the saintly followers of Jesus Christ will be fulfilled: “The Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints received the kingdom.” God’s angel explained this to Daniel, saying: “The kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.”—Dan. 7:13, 14, 22, 27, RS.

23. In fighting against God’s decision and arrangement, why will the nations be acting with impractical wisdom?

²³ Let the missile-equipped, space-probing nations fight a hot or a cold war over this issue of world domination. There would be absolutely no need to fight if they merely recognized Jehovah God’s decision and action in the matter. In their ignoring and unwittingly fighting against God’s decision and arrangement in the matter they may act with all the accumulated military wisdom of the ages; but they will nonetheless act with impractical wisdom. Theirs will be a war of miscalculation indeed, for they misjudge Jehovah God by the apparently weak, defenseless appearance of his witnesses on earth, the true followers of the Lamb Jesus Christ. Hence concerning the nations who lack practical wisdom and who show no more understanding than a brute beast it is written: “These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.”—Rev 17:12-14.

EXERCISE OF FORETHOUGHT WISE

24, 25. (a) What is the attitude of those who desire to be on the winning side in the universal fight? (b) What advice of the Lamb do we follow?

²⁴ Persons who desire to be on the winning side in the universal fight for world domination do not follow the nations in ignorance of the sacred secret of God. They do not care to be drawn into any war of miscalculation against God and his Lamb Jesus Christ. In harmony with “God’s wisdom in a sacred secret, the hidden wisdom,” these lovers of life and happiness follow the advice of the Lamb Jesus Christ that he gave when a notably great crowd followed him. The question was, Would they all continue to follow him to the end? Did they fully know what this required? So concerning this we read:

²⁵ “Now great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own soul, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever is not carrying his torture stake and coming after me cannot be my disciple. For example, who of you that wants to build a tower does not first sit down and figure out the expense, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, he might lay its foundation but not have the funds to finish it, and all the onlookers might start to ridicule him, saying: “This man started to build but had not the funds to finish.” Or what king, marching to meet another king in war does not first sit down and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand troops to cope with the one that comes against him with twenty thousand? If, in fact, he cannot do so, then while that one is yet far away he sends out a body of ambassadors and sues for peace. Thus, you may be sure, none of you that does not say good-bye to all his belongings can be my disciple. Salt, to be sure, is fine. But if even the salt loses its strength, with what will it be mixed? It is suitable neither for soil nor for manure. People throw it outside. Let him that has ears to listen listen.’”—Luke 14:25-35.

26. What would be practical wisdom with regard to building a watchtower or going to war with a superior enemy?

²⁶ To get the security or the protection of property that a watchtower makes possible, one has to have the funds with which to complete it to its required height. To avoid ridicule or the poking of fun at one, one has to be practical in wisdom and calculate first whether one has enough money to complete the proposed tower, before one ever starts building and wasting time, material, energy and money and showing unwisdom. In war, to avoid suffering a calamitous defeat or even the wiping out of his army and himself, a king has to show good sense and do some calculating. Can he win against the king coming with a double-size army and possibly better equipped? Or would it be safer to sue for peace and not risk a fight? If this latter course is advisable, then it would be practical wisdom for the weaker king to sue for peace.

27. How was worldly wisdom shown respecting handling the 1959 Berlin crisis, but how do the nations not act with practical wisdom concerning the impending universal war?

²⁷ Not otherwise in this space age. Even in the Berlin crisis of 1959 the need to negotiate was seen to be advisable rather than to risk a nuclear war with all the disastrous consequences to both sides in the conflict. But how about the impending universal war between God Almighty and all this wicked system of things? Ah, in this more serious case the nations see no need to negotiate, no need to send now before Armageddon comes like a surprise attack and sue for peace with Almighty God. Yet they cannot possibly win against him. To continue to ignore Jehovah’s warnings through his witnesses until the battle is joined at Armageddon means annihilation for all the nations of this world. So they show no practical wisdom.

28. Where has the spirit of revelation shown us that the kings of earth are being gathered, and why cannot we afford to be like them?

²⁸ We toward whom God’s loving-kindness has abounded in all wisdom and good sense cannot afford to do like the world rulers. We must act with the “spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the accurate knowledge of him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened.” With our enlightened eyes we see what the prophetic Revelation has said concerning the “expressions inspired by demons” that come forth through the mouths of impressive speakers: “They go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty. And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon.” (Rev. 16:13, 14, 16, footnote) We have the accurate knowledge that the kings are being gathered to destruction at the hands of God Almighty and his King of kings. Personally, we witnesses of Jehovah have acted with practical wisdom and refused to go along with them.

29. How have we acted unlike those kings, and how have we shown hate of those dear to us according to the flesh?

²⁹ We have sued for peace with God through his Lamb Jesus Christ, through whose blood we have the release from condemnation and the forgiveness of our trespasses against God. We have counted the cost, figured out the cost of a thorough, complete undertaking. Determined to meet all personal expenses involved and being sure that with God’s help we can meet the expense, we have said good-by to all our selfish belongings and have dedicated ourselves to God to be disciples of his now-reigning Son, Jesus Christ. This has meant hating or loving less our personal fleshly relatives, father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters. Even our present earthly life we cannot afford to hold too dear to us.

30, 31. (a) Why must we be the “salt of the earth” all the time? (b) After we have undertaken discipleship, why is it impractical wisdom for us to drop out?

³⁰ Now that we have been for some time in the way following Christ as his disciples, we dare not grow weak in our decidedness. We dare not become like salt that loses its strength and is no longer fine. To become so would mean to become useless, a subject of ridicule to this world and unfit for God, in fact, a reproach upon God, hence like strengthless, contaminated salt fit only to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Yes, it means destruction.

³¹ We must continue to be the “salt of the earth” all the time. (Matt. 5:13) It is practical wisdom first to sit down and figure out the expense of undertaking discipleship. It is impractical wisdom, therefore, after we have undertaken it, to refuse to pay the further expense and continue in discipleship to the end. Worldly wisdom may make it appear to be the best thing for one to drop out, but such wisdom is not practical. It is not good sense, for it dictates what may be selfishly advantageous for the time being but what will mean disgrace and destruction in the end. Practical wisdom never hesitates to pay the running expenses until the entire cost is met and the glorious reward of discipleship is ours! We must follow God’s Lamb no matter where he goes!—Rev. 14:4.

Displaying Practical Wisdom as Sons of Light

1. What are we obligated to display for the sake of sheeplike people, and what course does this mean for us in this space age?

IT IS our obligation to display practical wisdom for the sake of the sheeplike people who need faithful shepherds. We dare not be like Bildad the Shuhite in the prophetic drama of Job. This Bildad did not help to solve afflicted Job’s problem. Rather, he cast doubts upon Job’s integrity and urged another course of action for Job. So Job said to Bildad: “O how much help you have been to one without power! O how you have saved an arm that is without strength! How much you have advised one that is without wisdom, and you have made practical wisdom itself known to the multitude!” May such a word not need to be said reproachfully to us in this space age. If we desire to prove ourselves real friends and sincere comforters, and not “physicians of no value” to the sheeplike ones in their affliction today, we have to make known the course of practical wisdom to them. (Job 26:1-3; 13:4) That course is for us to interest them, not in outer space, but in the heavens where they can lay up bomb-proof treasure with Jehovah God and his Christ.

2. On the impracticalness of modern worldly programs what did a manager of space programs recently say to a conference of scientists?

² On the impracticalness of modern worldly programs, Dr. A. R. J. Grosch caused an uproar at the conference of scientists at California Institute of Technology when he, as manager of space programs for the International Business Machines Corporation, shouted: “Our missile program is the swan song of a dying civilization. We don’t need better missiles to destroy each other—the ones we have now will do the job adequately. And there isn’t any point in zooming off into outer space. We could spend the money better solving problems here at home—taking care of our overcrowded, underfed millions. If we did that, we wouldn’t need to find new worlds to colonize.” He added: “We are in a bad way, I’m afraid, when we try to solve our problem by mass killing—or by paddling off to a bigger island in space.”—New York Times, page 2, March 21, 1959.

3. (a) How do we take care of the need that needs to be taken care of now before Armageddon? (b) What will surpass in sight-seeing the proposed space travel?

³ Now, when the universal war of Armageddon, which will break forth from beyond outer space, is impending, the need of the people here on earth is the thing to take care of, at once. The course of practical wisdom is for us to show from the Holy Bible how lovers of peace and happiness may sue for peace with Jehovah of armies rather than to get in touch electronically with the moon, or Venus or some other planet to which it is hoped to send space ships. It is more important to know Jehovah God and his Son Jesus Christ than to know about the moon and the planets, which God created, for such knowledge of the Creator and of his Son, our Savior, means everlasting life. (John 17:1-3) If one really wanted to get around and see things safely and conveniently in outer space, it would be wiser to follow Jesus’ counsel and keep seeking first God’s kingdom rather than to plan on becoming a space traveler in outer space ships. Those who inherit the heavenly kingdom will see far more than the things in outer space. They will get around with greater speed, angelic speed, and with more ease and convenience. Space travel can never bring anyone the vision of God himself that the Kingdom heirs will gain.—Matt. 6:33; 5:8; Ex. 33:20.

4. In what way does practical wisdom view the future, and hence why dare we not have God and Christ as enemies now?

⁴ Practical wisdom considers the future sensibly, which means according to what God has told us in his Holy Bible. It is his will and purpose that there must be a righteous new world. He will be the one God to be worshiped in that new world, and his glorified Son Jesus Christ will be the one King ruling by the grace of God, over all the earth and its outer space. Will Jehovah God and his reigning King want us and permit us to live in that perfect new world and enjoy it forever? We cannot be enemies of God and Christ and expect to do so. We must therefore have God and his King as our everlasting friends, and not this short-lived, doomed world.

5. In order to teach us to provide wisely for the future, what parable or illustration did Jesus give us?

⁵ We need to provide for the future with practical wisdom. Jesus gave us a parable or illustration to teach us to do so. An Oriental steward was threatened with discharge by his master because of handling the master’s goods wastefully. “Then the steward said to himself: ‘What am I to do, seeing that my master will take the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, I am ashamed to beg. Ah! I know what I shall do, so that, when I am put out of the stewardship, people will receive me into their homes.’” So he called those who were heavily in debt to his master, one after another, and had them change their bills of debt to a lower amount, in one case down to 50 percent, in another case down to 80 percent of the owed amount. When the master learned of this friend-winning action of his steward, at the expense of his master, what did this master do? Of course, he discharged the steward. Jesus left that unsaid; but Jesus did say this to make clear the point of the illustration: “And his master commended the steward, though unrighteous, because he acted with practical wisdom; because the sons of this system of things are wiser in a practical way toward their own generation than the sons of the light are.”—Luke 16:1-8.

6. What is the best way to apply the point of Jesus’ illustration?

⁶ Practical wisdom is to be commended because it brings results that are of advantage and benefit to the one exercising it. Hence Jesus told us the best way in which to apply the point of the illustration, by imitating, not the steward’s injustice, but his practical wisdom. Jesus did not want the sons of light to be less wise in a practical way than the sons of this worldly system of things are to their present-day generation. Jesus wants us to be wise in a practical way toward God and his anointed King.

7. What did Jesus tell us to do with the unrighteous riches and the slavery toward riches?

⁷ Accordingly Jesus said to the sons of the light of truth: “Also I say to you, Make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous riches, so that, when such fail, they may receive you into the everlasting dwelling-places. The person faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and the person unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much. Therefore, if you have not proved yourselves faithful in connection with the unrighteous riches, who will entrust you with what is true? And if you have not proved yourselves faithful in connection with what is another’s, who will give you what is for yourselves? No house servant can be a slave to two masters; for, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves to God and to riches.”—Luke 16:9-13.

8. Who are the absolutely sure friends with whom to get on the good side, and why?

⁸ We cannot dedicate ourselves to God through Christ and still stay slaves to riches, unrighteous riches, material riches. We must prove ourselves masters of unrighteous riches and make them serve our ends while we serve as God’s slaves. Such unrighteous riches are not the treasures that we lay up in heaven with God, but it is wise to use them for gaining friends. We cannot have this world as our friend always. It is certain to perish in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty.” In the face of all the uncertainties of this present life, the only friends that we can be absolutely sure of are Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. They are the only ones that can receive us “into the everlasting dwelling-places,” for they are immortal, everlasting themselves. So they can give us perfect dwelling-places in the everlasting new world, whether these be in the heavenly kingdom with Jesus Christ or on the paradise earth with all the resurrected faithful holy men of those ancient times before Christ. Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, then, are the absolutely necessary ones to make our friends, who will really have something into which to receive us gladly after this “space age” world is destroyed at Armageddon and we are discharged from whatever connections we shall have had with this world.

9. After our dedication, how must we prove ourselves in connection with the unrighteous riches, and how will doing so be rewarded?

⁹ Although material riches of this world are not the things we need at all in order to dedicate ourselves to God to become his slaves under our Leader Jesus Christ, still we can use material riches in a way to continue the friendship into which our dedication to God through Christ brings us. We certainly must watch that we do not use our unrighteous riches in such a way after our dedication as to turn God and Christ into our enemies. Judas Iscariot, the unfaithful one of Jesus’ original twelve apostles, did that. We want to prove ourselves “faithful in connection with the unrighteous riches,” and that is by using what material riches we now own, not to enrich this world or its slaves of Mammon (Riches), but to serve the interests of God’s kingdom. We shall use them to see to it that the good news of God’s established kingdom is more widely preached, in all the inhabited earth, for the purpose of a final witness to all the nations before their complete end comes. Since the dedication of ourselves and of our all to our Greatest Friend, Jehovah God, we really only hold in trust what material wealth we possess in the midst of this world. Hence we must prove faithful in using such earthly riches just as we must do in using all the priceless spiritual wealth that God has given us through Christ. Then after Armageddon God and Christ will take us into everlasting dwellings, because we used practical wisdom toward them as Friends.

MAKING WISDOM SUCCEED

10. What illustration did Solomon use concerning the making of wisdom succeed, and to what degree of advantage are we taught to use practical wisdom successfully?

¹⁰ As the royal congregator of Jehovah’s people, wise King Solomon wrote: “If an iron tool has become blunt and someone has not whetted its edge, then he will exert his own vital energies. And the making of wisdom succeed means advantage.” (Eccl. 10:10) How true this saying! If a man has a work to perform that needs a sharp-edged tool, then it is to his advantage to have the tool he uses sharp in its cutting edge. If the tool has become blunt and he does not discern the bluntness and sharpen up the edge, then when he works with the still-blunt tool he will have to work harder. He will have to expend more of his own physical energy and time, and the job done will not be as neat when it is finally completed with much labor, sweat and extra effort. This spells inefficiency and a waste. It is not practical wisdom on the tool worker’s part. Likewise with practical wisdom on the part of God’s sons of light. They must make it succeed. That is, they must use practical wisdom to success or in such a way that it results in success. If they do this, then their practical wisdom when put to use will be an advantage to them. The way that the unrighteous steward applied his practical wisdom was only to his immediate and temporary advantage. The way we sons of light are taught to use practical wisdom that comes from God is to our eternal advantage.

11. (a) Why is it not sensible to make things hard for us? (b) Why was Timothy told to handle the word of the truth aright?

¹¹ There is no sense in making things hard for us and vexing ourselves with unsatisfactory results or workmanship. In that regard the Christian overseer Timothy was given the following instructions concerning the flock of God’s people in his charge: “Keep reminding them of these things, charging them before God as witness, not to fight about words, a thing of no usefulness at all because it overturns those listening. Do your utmost to present yourself approved to God, a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of the truth aright. But shun empty speeches that violate what is holy; for [such speeches] will advance to more and more ungodliness, and their word will spread like gangrene.” (2 Tim. 2:14-17) The “word of the truth,” the Holy Scriptures, is the tool with which we are authorized and commanded to work, not words or teachings outside God’s Word that provoke a fight about the meaning, a fight that brings no useful outcome but really harms those listening to the dispute. The speeches of this world that are profane because of violating what is holy to God are just empty sayings that have no real content, no real solidness, and they lead people into ungodliness and cause cankerlike corruption that eats away until death ensues. It is not practical wisdom to handle and deal with such words, teachings, and empty, profane speeches or sayings.

12. (a) What tool, then, should we use, and how do we handle it aright? (b) How do we keep it sharp for our use, and with what benefit?

¹² Use the tool that accomplishes God’s work, namely, his holy Word. When handling it, be sure that it is handled aright, not only so that God’s Word is made to harmonize with itself but also that it is handled with the right motive in one’s heart and for the right purpose. Our motive should be love to God and his dear sheep. Our purpose should be to exalt God and gather together all his sheep into the one fold under his Right Shepherd, Jesus Christ. This work requires also preaching God’s “word of the truth.” We should be careful to see that our tool is sharp-edged, keen. God’s Word actually is that in itself; but we have to keep our understanding of it sharp and our ability to preach and teach it keen, incisive, piercing, penetrating, not dull, blunt, unconvincing, and so needing extra time and effort to get at the point and drive it home. Due to failure to use it, our instrument or tool will seem to get like that. The pressing need for the ingathering and the upbuilding of the sheep now before Armageddon requires of us to do our utmost in handling the Word of the truth aright. We must prepare ourselves in advance to the highest degree of sharpness. This will really save effort while we are at work and will get the best results.

13. Why will we workmen then have nothing of which to be ashamed?

¹³ In that case we shall make practical wisdom succeed. We will be using practical wisdom to success, and this will be to our everlasting advantage. As workmen we shall have nothing of which to be ashamed and shall show ourselves approved to God.

THE PRACTICAL FOUNDATION

14. How do Christendom’s religionists not handle the Word of the truth aright, and why does not the name taken make one’s course right?

¹⁴ In this space age Christendom is full of religionists who do many things in the name of the Lord Jesus. However, they do not handle the Word of the truth aright. They make themselves a part of this world; they constitute themselves friends of this world, and then undertake to do many things in harmony with the purposes of this world, so as to keep on good terms with it, never running into conflict with it. Then to these works that they have undertaken according to this world’s standards and aims they attach the name of Christ. They call such works Christian and claim that Christ set an example for them to do such works. For instance, did not Christ and his apostles perform works of healing? And so why should they not become medical missionaries? However, the name in which one presumes to do the work is not what makes the work right. Besides the name, the work’s product must be right.

15. In proof of this, what did Jesus say, and hence why do lawless workers act without practical wisdom?

¹⁵ Said Jesus: “Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men. Not everyone saying to me, ‘Master, Master,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. Many will say to me in that day: ‘Master, Master, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew you at all. Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matt. 7:20-23) Jesus Christ always did the will of his Father who is in the heavens. He never worked at any lawlessness toward God. His name is not to be associated with what is not God’s will, lawlessness. To apply Jesus’ name to lawlessness is wrong, no matter whether such lawlessness may seem to accomplish wonderful works. Jesus has no familiarity with workers of lawlessness who hypocritically use his name to misrepresent their works and make a deceptive impression. Consequently such lawless workers act without practical wisdom.

16. How does chapter eight of the Proverbs show that Jesus Christ is associated with heavenly, practical wisdom?

¹⁶ Jesus Christ is associated with heavenly wisdom and practical wisdom. He has always displayed these successful qualities. As God’s firstborn Son in the heavens before his becoming a perfect man on earth he is personified in chapter eight of King Solomon’s Proverbs. There he is represented as divine wisdom personified. As such, he says: “I, wisdom, I have resided with shrewdness and I find even the knowledge of thinking abilities. The fear of Jehovah means the hating of bad. Self-exaltation and pride and the bad way and the perverse mouth I have hated. I have counsel and practical wisdom. I—understanding; I have mightiness.”—Prov. 8:12-14.

17. How did making practical wisdom succeed work advantageously to Jesus, and what illustration did he give against falling into the trap of lawlessness?

¹⁷ Making practical wisdom succeed when he was on earth meant advantage to Jesus to gaining everlasting heavenly glory. Hear, now, his words of practical wisdom to us who do not want to fall into the trap of lawlessness: “Therefore everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them will be likened to a discreet man [a man of practical wisdom], who built his house upon the rock-mass. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded upon the rock-mass. Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house and it caved in, and its collapse was great.”—Matt. 7:24-27.

18. On what does the foolish Christian build, and with what final result?

¹⁸ Both the foolish Christian and the discreet Christian hear Jesus’ sayings, just as the foolish virgin class and the discreet virgin class do. (Matt. 25:1-13) But the foolish Christian does not take heed to Jesus’ sayings and put them in practice. He is careless, thoughtless, shortsighted and disobedient. Hence his religious structure he builds upon disobedience to the sayings of Jesus as a basis. Disobedience as a basis supplies the builder no foundation. It is like the sand. In the great flood of judgment at Armageddon the religious structure of the foolishly disobedient Christian will cave in. Its collapse will be great. It will mean everlasting destruction for the one who inhabits it.

19. (a) What kind of person is the successful Christian? (b) On what does he build, and of what advantage will this be to him?

¹⁹ The successful Christian is a person of heavenly practical wisdom, a person discreet, thoughtful, exercising forethought and working for something permanent, enduring, proof against destructive forces. He is obedient to authoritative sayings. His Christian structure he founds upon obedience to the sayings of God’s wise Son as a basis. Obedience to these sayings serves as a rock-mass for a foundation, a rock-mass the roots of which go down deep so that it cannot be washed away or be undermined or toppled over. Amid the storm of divine judgment at Armageddon the Christian structure in which this discreet disciple dwells during this space age will not be destroyed. He will dwell forever, because he will have shown practical wisdom in harmony with the perfect will of God. His making practical wisdom succeed, his using practical wisdom to success, will be to his everlasting advantage in Jehovah’s endless new world.

Part 26—“Your Will Be Done on Earth”

As foretold in the eleventh chapter of Daniel’s prophecy, Alexander the Great, after establishing the Grecian or Macedonian Empire (the fifth world power in Bible history), died at Babylon in 323 B.C. For a time his empire was broken up into four Hellenic empires, ruled by generals of Alexander the Great. General Seleucus Nicator secured Babylon, Media, Syria, Persia and the provinces eastward to the Indus River, and the line of royal rulers from him through his son Antíochus I came to be known as the “king of the north” because of ruling from Syria north of Jerusalem. General Ptolemy Lagus secured Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Palestine and Coele-Syria, and the line of royal rulers from him came to be known as the “king of the south” because of ruling from Egypt to the south of Jerusalem. Because of rivalry and lust for territory war raged between the “king of the north” and the “king of the south.” In 217 B.C. Antíochus 111 as king of the north found himself ranged in battle against Ptolemy IV of Egypt as king of the south, in fulfillment of Daniel 11:10, JP.

30. Where did the king of the south meet him for a Fight, and what was given into his hand?

³⁰ Jehovah’s angel showed that the tide of battle would turn, saying: “And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north; and he shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand.” (Dan. 11:11, JP) Embittered, the king of the south, Ptolemy IV Philopator (or Tryphon), moved north with 70,000 troops against the advancing enemy. At the coastal city of Raphia, about twenty miles southwest of Gaza and not far north of Egypt’s border, they met. Syrian King Antíochus III had raised a “great multitude” 60,000 strong, but it was given into the hand of the king of the south.

31. How was a multitude carried away at that battle, what were the terms of the peace treaty signed, but why did the king of the south not prevail but have his heart lifted up?

³¹ “And the multitude shall be carried away, and his heart shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not prevail.” (Dan. 11:12, JP) The king of the south, Ptolemy IV, carried 10,000 enemy Syrian troops and 300 horsemen to their death and took 5,000 more as prisoners, a big loss for the king of the north. The two kings now signed a peace treaty, and Antíochus III was obliged to give up Phoenicia, including Tyre and Ptolemais, and Coele-Syria, that he had conquered. But he still held on to his Syrian seaport of Seleucia. This peace was to his advantage, for the king of the south did not follow up his victory, to “prevail.” He turned to a life of dissipation in Egypt and left no successor to take up an aggressive lead against Syria, only his five-year-old son, Ptolemy V, as successor to Egypt’s throne. This was many years before his Syrian opponent, Antíochus III, himself died. Jehovah’s angel had foretold: “He shall not prevail.” Over this victory his heart did get “lifted up,” but specially