It is interesting to note what Jesus Christ mentioned as acts of mercies which will allow us or not, to have his favor: "For I became hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you received me hospitably; naked and you clothed me. I fell sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me" (Matthew 25:31-46). To feed, to give drink, to welcome strangers, to dress, to visit the sick, to visit prisoners imprisoned because of their faith. It should be noted that among all of these good actions, there is no act that could be considered "religious". Why? Often, Jesus Christ repeated this sentence: "I want mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). The general meaning of the word "mercy" is compassion or pity in action (the narrower meaning is forgiveness). When someone is in need, whether we know him or not, our heart is moved, and if we are able to do so, we bring them assistance (Proverbs 3:27,28).

The sacrifice represents spiritual acts directly linked to the worship of God. While of course our relationship with God is most important, Jesus Christ showed that we should not use the pretext of "sacrifice" to refrain from showing mercy. In a certain circumstance, Jesus Christ condemned some of his contemporaries who used the pretext of "sacrifice" not to materially help their aging parents (Matthew 15:3-9). In this case, it is interesting to note what Jesus Christ made say to those who will seek his approval and they will not have it: “Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’" (Matthew 7:22). If we compare Matthew 7:21-23 with 25:31-46 and John 13:34,35, we realize that although the spiritual "sacrifice" is closely linked to mercy, it is far from being subordinate to the "sacrifice", from the point of view of Jehovah God and of his Son Jesus Christ: "But whoever has the material possessions of this world and sees his brother in need and yet refuses to show him compassion, in what way does the love of God remain in him? Little children, we should love, not in word or with the tongue, but in deed and truth" (1 John 3:17,18; Matthew 5:7).

The end of suffering is very near

"And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”" (Revelation 21:1-4)

To the question of the prophet Habakkuk (1:2-4), concerning why God allowed suffering and wickedness until our days, here is the answer: "Jehovah then answered me: “Write down the vision, and inscribe it clearly on tablets, So that the one reading aloud from it may do so easily. For the vision is yet for its appointed time, And it is rushing toward its end, and it will not lie. Even if it should delay, keep in expectation of it! For it will without fail come true. It will not be late!" (Habakkuk 2:2,3). Here are some Bible quotes of this very near future "vision" of hope that will not be late:

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”" (Revelation 21:1-4).

"The wolf will reside for a while with the lamb, And with the young goat the leopard will lie down, And the calf and the lion and the fattened animal will all be together; And a little boy will lead them. The cow and the bear will feed together, And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the bull. The nursing child will play over the lair of a cobra, And a weaned child will put his hand over the den of a poisonous snake. They will not cause any harm Or any ruin in all my holy mountain, Because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9).

"At that time the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. At that time the lame will leap like the deer, And the tongue of the speechless will shout for joy. For waters will burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert plain. The heat-parched ground will become a reedy pool, And the thirsty ground springs of water. In the lairs where jackals rested, There will be green grass and reeds and papyrus" (Isaiah 35:5-7).

“No more will there be an infant from that place who lives but a few days, Nor an old man who fails to live out his days. For anyone who dies at a hundred will be considered a mere boy, And the sinner will be cursed, even though he is a hundred years of age. They will build houses and live in them, And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build for someone else to inhabit, Nor will they plant for others to eat. For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full. They will not toil for nothing, Nor will they bear children for distress, Because they are the offspring made up of those blessed by Jehovah, And their descendants with them. Even before they call out, I will answer; While they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:20-24).

"Let his flesh become fresher than in youth; Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor" (Job 33:25).

"In this mountain Jehovah of armies will make for all the peoples A banquet of rich dishes, A banquet of fine wine, Of rich dishes filled with marrow, Of fine, filtered wine. In this mountain he will do away with the shroud that is enveloping all the peoples And the covering that is woven over all the nations. He will swallow up death forever, And the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will wipe away the tears from all faces. The reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, For Jehovah himself has spoken it" (Isaiah 25:6-8).

"Your dead will live. My corpses will rise up. Awake and shout joyfully, You residents in the dust! For your dew is as the dew of the morning, And the earth will let those powerless in death come to life" (Isaiah 26:19).

"And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2).

"Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28,29).

"And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous" (Acts 24:15) (HARVESTS OF LIVES; THE EARTHLY PRINCE; THE EARTHLY PRIEST; THE EARTHLY LEVITE).

Meditation on the book of Job

This meditation will be based on Job's dialogue with his three accusers or his false friends, on Elihu's speech and finally the intervention of Jehovah God, the Heavenly Father, in order to discipline Job on his words. The dialogues between Job and his three accusers, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, has three parts (1 - Job 3:1 to 14:22; 2 - 15:1 to 21:34; 3 - 21:1 to 25:6. Job's latest speech, before Elihu's intervention, is in Job 21:1 to 31:40). There will be some biblical verses mentioned as highlights, with or without comment.

Job's dialogue against his three accusers

(Job chapters 3 to 31)

Job chapter 3: the plaintive speech of Job: he feels regrets having come into existence.

“It was after this that Job opened his mouth and began to call down evil upon his day” (Job 3:1).

“Why from the womb did I not proceed to die? Why did I not come forth from the belly itself and then expire” (Job 3:11).

“Why does he give light to able-bodied man, whose way has been concealed, And whom God hedges in?” (Job 3:23).

“I have not been carefree, nor have I been undisturbed, Nor been at rest, and yet agitation comes” (Job 3:26).

Job Chapters 4 and 5: Eliphaz's answer, the first accuser: he calls into question Job's integrity and trustworthiness toward God. According to him, his great misfortune is the obvious indication of the disapproval of God.

"If someone tries to speak to you, will you become impatient? For who can hold back from speaking?" (Job 4:2). From the first words, Eliphaz is offending Job, suggesting that he is not a patient listener.

"Is not your reverence the basis of your confidence? Is not your hope even the integrity of your ways? Remember, please: Who that is innocent has ever perished? And where have the upright ever been effaced?" (Job 4:6,7). Eliphaz says that he has never seen an innocent or a righteous man perishing in misfortune (he implies that the misfortunes of Job, are the proof that he is guilty before God).

"According to what I have seen, those devising what is hurtful And those sowing trouble will themselves reap it" (Job 4:8). Eliphaz says that on the other hand, it always happens misfortune to the wicked men (implying that Job is responsible to his misfortune due to his wickedness)...

"And a spirit itself went passing over my face; The hair of my flesh began to bristle" (Job 4:12-16). Eliphaz betrays the diabolical source of the inspiration of his malicious words. He is only the spokesman of Satan, the devil, the spirit that inspires him, starting with two declarations which are correct, then twisting its meaning. Here are the two true assertions:

"Mortal man—can he be more just than God himself? Or can able-bodied man be cleaner than his own Maker?" (Job 4:17). Now, here how he is twisting the meaning: "Look! In his servants he has no faith, And his messengers he charges with faultiness. How much more so with those dwelling in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust! One crushes them more quickly than a moth" (Job 4:18,19). Eliphaz, the spokesman of Satan the devil, says that the justice of God is so high and so pure, that God does not even consent to trust in man, made of dust and that he is just good to be crushed like a moth. An additional innuendo that the man from the dust crushed like a moth, is Job.

Eliphaz, the prophet of the devil, this time referring to the death of his ten children, says: "His sons remain far from salvation, And they are crushed in the gate without a deliverer" (Job 5:4). He describes the death of his ten children as the crushing of the sons of the wicked man (implying Job)...

Job chapters 6 and 7: In response to the serious innuendos of Eliphaz of unfaithfulness of Job toward God, he simply asks him to say what kind of faults he made: "Instruct me, and I, for my part, shall be silent; And what mistake I have committed make me understand" (Job 6:24).

Job has a clear conscience before God, and even if he can make involuntary mistakes, why would God not forgive him? "If I have sinned, what can I accomplish against you, the Observer of mankind? Why is it that you have set me as your target, so that I should become a burden to you? And why do you not pardon my transgression And overlook my error? For now in dust I shall lie down; And you will certainly look for me, and I shall not be" (Job 7:20.21).

Job chapter 8: Bildad, the second accuser of the devil, by his first words, verbally attacks Job: "How long will you keep uttering these things, When the sayings of your mouth are but a powerful wind?" (Job 8:2).

He continues in the same kind of diabolical insinuations of Eliphaz, regarding the tragic fate of the ten children of Job. He says that their death is the result of the right judgment of God, because of their unfaithfulness and also that of Job: "Will God himself pervert judgment, Or will the Almighty himself pervert righteousness? If your own sons have sinned against him, So that he lets them go into the hand of their revolt, If you yourself will look for God, And if of the Almighty you will implore favor, If you are pure and upright, By now he would awake for you And he would certainly restore your righteous abiding place" (Job 8:3-6).

Job chapters 9 and 10: Job answers Bildad by telling him that if he had thought a moment to willfully sin against God, it would have been a real madness on his part. Precisely, the reverential fear that he feels toward God, prevents him from having such a sinful behavior: "For a fact I do know that it is so. But how can mortal man be in the right in a case with God? If he should find delight in contending with him, He cannot answer him once out of a thousand. He is wise in heart and strong in power. Who can show stubbornness to him and come off uninjured?" (Job 9:2-4).

Job chapter 11: Zophar, the third accuser, makes reproaches to Job for boasting to be faithful to God and of to not take into account the reprimands of Eliphaz and Bildad. By the way, he has contemptuous words, towards Job's answers to the two accusers and regarding his wisdom. Like his two companions, he accuses him of being unfaithful toward God: "Will a multitude of words go unanswered, Or will a mere boaster be in the right? Will your empty talk itself put men to silence, And will you keep deriding without having anyone rebuke you? Also, you say, ‘My instruction is pure, And I have proved really clean in your eyes.’ Yet O if only God himself would speak And open his lips with you! Then he would tell you the secrets of wisdom, For the things of practical wisdom are manifold. Also, you would know that God allows some of your error to be forgotten for you. Can you find out the deep things of God, Or can you find out to the very limit of the Almighty?" (Job 11:2-7, see also verse 20).

Job chapters 12 to 14: Job is indignant: "For a fact you men are the people, And with you wisdom will die out!" (Job 12: 2). He does not allow himself to be destabilized by the false accusations against himself and also against the memory of his ten deceased children: "I too have a heart as well as you. I am not inferior to you, And with whom are there not things like these? One who is a laughingstock to his fellowman I become, One calling to God that he should answer him. A laughingstock is the righteous, unblamable one" (Job 12:3,4).

Job chapter 15: Eliphaz, far from answering Job's ideas, is laughing of his words: "Will a wise person himself answer with windy knowledge, Or will he fill his belly with the east wind?" (Job 15:2). And when he accuses him of unfaithfulness toward God, even of apostasy, he gives no evidence or any example to support his serious accusations: "However, you yourself make fear [before God] to have no force, And you diminish the having of any concern before God. For your error trains your mouth, And you choose the tongue of shrewd people. Your mouth pronounces you wicked, and not I; And your own lips answer against you" (Job 15:4-6).

Eliphaz repeats the idea that he expressed at the beginning, God does not trust in his own creatures, or even in his angels. He goes even further, this time speaking of the heavenly place where is God: "Look! In his holy ones he has no faith, And the heavens themselves are actually not clean in his eyes. How much less so when one is detestable and corrupt, A man who is drinking in unrighteousness just like water!" (Job 15:15,16). Obviously, Eliphaz is wrong. God has confidence in his faithful heavenly and earthly creatures. In addition, how could He live in Heavens that he would not consider as Holy, as the Most Holy? Eliphaz says that in contrast to better crush Job and to suggest that in the eyes of God, he can only be unclean, miserable and pitiful...

Job chapter 16 and 17: Job replies that their words are in no way consoling, they are only "windy words": "I have heard many things like these. All of you are troublesome comforters! Is there an end to windy words? Or what galls you, that you answer?" (Job 16:2,3). He says that if Eliphaz and his two other accusers would have been in his place, he would not have talked to them in this way. On the contrary, he would say to them consoling words: "I myself also could well speak as you men do. If only your souls existed where my soul is, Would I be brilliant in words against you, And would I wag my head against you? I would strengthen you with the words of my mouth, And the consolation of my own lips would hold back" (Job 16:4,5). Job says once again, that he has a clear conscience before God, and he trusts in the justice of God regarding his integrity before Him: "Also now, look! in the heavens is one testifying about me, And my witness is in the heights" (Job 16:19). Incidentally, Job accuses his three false friends of practicing the reverse accusation, when they should console him, being about to die from his illness: "Night they keep putting for day: ‘Light is near on account of darkness.’ If I keep waiting, Sheol is my house; In the darkness I shall have to spread out my lounge. To the pit I shall have to call out, ‘You are my father!’ To the maggot, ‘My mother and my sister!’ So where, then, is my hope? And my hope—who is it that beholds it?" (Job 17:12-15).

Job chapter 18: Bildad is very angry, according to the answer of Job (chapters 16 and 17) and says that the judgment of God will fall against him, as wicked man and also, he will find himself without posterity: "How long will you people be at putting an end to words? you should understand, that afterward we may speak. Why should we be reckoned as beasts And be regarded as unclean in your eyes? He is tearing his soul to pieces in his anger. For your sake will the earth be abandoned, Or a rock move away from its place?  The light also of wicked ones will be extinguished And the spark of his fire will not shine" (Job 18:2-5).

Job chapter 19: Job answers by denouncing the cruelty of their words that crush him: "How long will you men keep irritating my soul And keep crushing me with words?" (Job 19:2). Job is aware of his integrity before God and he knows that in due time, He will save him: "And I myself well know that my redeemer is alive, And that, coming after [me], he will rise up over the dust. And after my skin, which they have skinned off,—this! Yet reduced in my flesh I shall behold God" (Job 19:25,26).

Job chapter 20: the answer of Zophar is like the answer of Bildad, expressing his irritation toward Job, insulting him and repeating that he will undergo the judgment of the wicked man (chapter 20): "An insulting exhortation to me I hear; And a spirit without the understanding that I have replies to me. Have you at all times known this very thing, Since man was put upon the earth, That the joyful cry of wicked people is short And the rejoicing of an apostate is for a moment?" (Job 20:3-5).

Job chapter 21: Job says that it is rather the opposite that occurs, the wicked man thrives in his wickedness, and the righteous man is suffering because of his justice: "This very one will die during his full self-sufficiency, When he is altogether carefree and at ease; When his own thighs have become full of fat And the very marrow of his bones is being kept moist. And this other one will die with a bitter soul When he has not eaten of good things" (Job 21:23-25; compare with Ecclesiastes 7:15 and 8:14).

Job chapter 22: Eliphaz says that God is indifferent to the righteous behavior of his creatures (of course, it is false): "Can an able-bodied man be of use to God himself, That anyone having insight should be of use toward him? Does the Almighty have any delight in that you are righteous, Or any gain in that you make your way blameless?" (Job 22:2,3). In his accusations of wickedness against Job, he accuses him of extortion of all kinds, including against those who have nothing. He accuses him of not having helped the poor: "Is not your own badness too much already, And will there be no end to your errors? For you seize a pledge from your brothers without cause, And you strip off even the garments of naked people. You do not give the tired one a drink of water, And from the hungry one you hold back bread" (Job 22:5-7). And it is because of this wickedness, that he is in this dramatic situation: "That is why bird traps are all around you, And sudden dread disturbs you; Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And a heaving mass of water itself covers you" (Job 22:10,11). Of course, all these accusations of Eliphaz , in chapter 22, are false.

Job chapters 23 and 24: Job repeats that he has a clear conscience before God, and he hopes that God will hear him. He also repeats the that the wicked men thrive in their wickedness, but that in due time, God will ask them to render an account. By the last sentence in chapter 24, Job shows that he does not allow himself to be destabilized by the lies of the three accusers of the devil: "So really now, who will make me out a liar Or reduce my word to nothing?" (Job 24:25).

Job chapter 25: Bildad says that God has so high criteria of holiness, that nor even his creation fulfills them, much less a mortal man (alluding to Job who says he has a fine conduct before God). It is obvious that the argument of Bildad is completely absurd. How could God would have created something that would not have fulfilled his criteria of holiness? "Look! There is even the moon, and it is not bright; And the stars themselves have not proved clean in his eyes. How much less so mortal man, who is a maggot, And a son of man, who is a worm!" (Job 25:5,6). There are two insulting expressions for the human race, those of treating it with "maggot" and "worm". This declaration is quite simply the signature of Satan the devil, who does not and never like the human race, particularly those who remain in their integrity toward God, according to biblical principles, like the faithful servant Job.

Job chapters 26 to 31: the last speech of Job: he laughs at the answer of Bildad, and more generally of the other accusers: "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!" (Job 26:2,3). Job is suffering from a deadly illness. He and his wife have lost their ten children. However, instead of consoling him, they insult him, they call into question his integrity toward God, suggesting that even the death of his ten children, is the right judgment of God against the sons of the wicked man. There is the famous statement of Job about his deep attachment to God and to his principles: "It is unthinkable on my part that I should declare you men righteous! Until I expire I shall not take away my integrity from myself!" (Job 27:5).

In conclusion of this first part which closes the dialogue between Job and the three accusers, there is in the Bible, a statement made much later, by Jesus Christ concerning his disciples: "Look! I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; so prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). The faithful servant Job was like an injured sheep, about to die, shredded verbally by three "ravenous wolves", in a spirit of pack wolves and with an absolute wickedness. These three devilish prosecutors disguised themselves as friends coming to console him, but instead, they acted as wolves: "Be on the watch for the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves" (Matthew 7:15). It is by the fruit of their evil words, with insults, false accusations, hurtful innuendos that their mask has fallen from their face, to reveal the face of the devil who was speaking through these three wicked men: "By their fruits you will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? Likewise, every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit. A good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing fine fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Matthew 7:16-19).

God condemned their bad behavior: "After Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and your two companions, for you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. (...). And my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his request not to deal with you according to your foolishness, for you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has”" (Job 42:7,8).

Elihu reproves Job and the three accusers for having said inaccurate things about God

(Job chapters 32 to 37)

Some have written that Elihu was young. However, depending on the context of the book of Job, this is not necessarily the case. It is obvious, that he was much less elderly than the four interlocutors, that were Job and the other three men. For example, in Job 42:10, it is written that Jehovah gave Job, double what he had lost. Then, in Job 42:16, it is written that Jehovah added 140 years of more life to him. By checking this information, it is deduced that Job and his three interlocutors were aged much over 100 years. Therefore, Elihu, being less elderly than them, could have been fifty, until sixty years old and maybe over. Elihu had not only great wisdom, but a great capacity for listening and understanding. Elihu, exceeded in wisdom and insight, those of the three interlocutors of Job who falsely accused him of apostasy and who had been unable to take Job in default.

Some have written that God gave to Elihu this wisdom; certainly. However, when God gives wisdom to a human, generally, it is already based on a spiritual background (Job 32:7). God ensures that knowledge of his principles, gathered with an experience of life, are magnified by his heavenly wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-9). For example, Jesus Christ showed that the Holy Spirit would allow his disciples to remember some points of his teachings: "But the helper, the holy spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you" (John 14:26). Elihu was probably far from being a young man freshly coming out of adolescence, but rather an adult who had a solid experience of life and wisdom when we consider his speech. The very fact that he stayed separate from these four very old patriarchs and that he waited until the end that everyone has finished their speeches, was part of a normal code of conduct at that time (see Leviticus 19:32).

The indignation of Elihu is both against Job and his three interlocutors. He says that by hearing them, that he had trouble mastering himself, by the abundance of words which came to mind: "But Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite of the family of Ram had become very angry. His anger blazed against Job for trying to prove himself right rather than God. He was also very angry with Job’s three companions because they could not find an answer but had declared God wicked" (Job 32: 2,3 ; "For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me" (Job 32:18)). Elihu is talking with Job with kindness, but also with firmness, telling him that he lacked wisdom and insight, in his words: "Job speaks without knowledge, And his words lack insight" (Job 34:35).

Elihu reproves Job on few points that will not all be mentioned. He says that he has been more concerned with justifying himself, rather than God: "But you said in my hearing, Yes, I kept hearing these words, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, without error. But God finds reasons to oppose me; He considers me his enemy. He puts my feet in stocks; He scrutinizes all my paths" (Job 33: 8-11). Here is a declaration of Job, proclaiming his own justice: "I put on righteousness as my clothing; My justice was like a robe and a turban" (Job 29:14). On the other hand, as he does not know the heavenly situation, as it is described in Job chapters 1 and 2, he thinks that God is paying back Job's justice, by the misfortunes: "Why do you hide your face And consider me your enemy?" (Job 13:24). Given from this point of view, of course, he considers that integrity is not advantageous.

For example, Elihu takes up a quote of Job which suggests that remaining in the integrity, does not bring any profit: "For he has said, ‘A man does not benefit From trying to please God.’ So listen to me, you men of understanding: It is unthinkable for the true God to act wickedly, For the Almighty to do wrong! For he will reward a man according to what he does And bring upon him the consequences of his ways" (Job 34:9-11). Let us take the previous declaration of Job: "It is all the same. That is why I say, ‘He destroys the innocent and the wicked alike’" (Job 9:22). Centuries later, King Solomon, expressed a similar idea: "For there is no lasting memory either of the wise one or of the stupid one. In the days to come, everyone will be forgotten. And how will the wise one die? Along with the stupid one" (Ecclesiastes 2:16). This text shows that it is not God who kills the wise with the stupid, but it is the result of the human condition which inherited the sin from Adam (Romans 5:12). The mistake in Job's words is that he thinks that it is God who causes the death of the righteous ones with the wicked ones. Elihu explain to job the right point of view, showing that God will ask everyone an account for their acts. God is in no way indifferent to the behavior of humans.

Jehovah disciplines Job about his wrong declarations

(Job chapter 38 to 42)

The two main points of the reproaches that God makes to Job are as follows, his lack of knowledge and insight, but also his lack of modesty, compared to his concern to justify himself. So, Jehovah God, by a series of rhetorical questions, will make him think about his lack of discernment, but also on his smallness compared to the power of his creation, here are some chosen biblical quotes:

"Who is this who is obscuring my counsel And speaking without knowledge? Brace yourself, please, like a man; I will question you, and you inform me. Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you think you understand. Who set its measurements, in case you know, Or who stretched a measuring line across it?" (Job 38:2-5). Jehovah God compares Job's brief existence with the fact he could not even be present at the beginning of the creation.

God underlines the ignorance of Job and the fact that he is not able to dominate the natural phenomena, whether heavenly or earthly and concerning the wild animals: "When the waters are covered as if with stone, And the surface of the deep waters is frozen solid? Can you tie the ropes of the Kimah constellation Or untie the cords of the Kesil constellation? Can you lead out a constellation in its season Or guide the Ash constellation along with its sons? Do you know the laws governing the heavens, Or can you impose their authority on the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds To cause a flood of water to cover you? Can you send out lightning bolts? Will they come and say to you, ‘Here we are!’ Who put wisdom within the clouds Or gave understanding to the sky phenomenon? Who is wise enough to count the clouds, Or who can tip over the water jars of heaven When the dust pours into a mass And the clods of earth stick together? Can you hunt prey for a lion Or satisfy the appetites of young lions When they crouch in their lairs Or lie in ambush in their dens? Who prepares food for the raven When its young cry to God for help And wander about because there is nothing to eat?" (Job 38:30-41).

God shows that Job (and every man) does not have great physical strength that would master some very powerful wild animals. He is not able to drive and guide them from one place to another, such as the wild bull, the behemoth (the hippopotamus) and the leviathan (the crocodile): (the wild bull) "Is the wild bull willing to serve you? Will it spend the night in your stable? Will you hold a wild bull to the furrow with a rope, Or will it follow you to plow the valley? Will you trust in its great strength And let it do your heavy work? Will you rely on it to bring back your harvest, And will it gather it to your threshing floor?" (Job 39:9-12). (Behemoth, hippopotamus) "Here, now, is Behemoth, which I made as I made you. It eats grass like a bull. Look at the strength in its hips And the power in the muscles of its belly! It stiffens its tail like a cedar; The sinews of its thighs are woven together. Its bones are tubes of copper; Its limbs are like wrought-iron rods. It ranks first among the works of God; Only its Maker can approach it with his sword" ( Job 40:15-19). (Leviathan, the crocodile) "Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook Or hold down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a rope through its nostrils Or pierce its jaws with a hook? Will it make many pleas to you, Or will it speak gently to you? Will it make a covenant with you, So that you may make it your slave for life? Will you play with it as with a bird Or tie it on a leash for your little girls?" (Job 41:1-5).

Obviously, Job repents before God for his thoughtless personal remarks: "Now I know that you are able to do all things And that nothing you have in mind to do is impossible for you. You said, ‘Who is this who is obscuring my counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I spoke, but without understanding About things too wonderful for me, which I do not know. You said, ‘Please listen, and I will speak. I will question you, and you inform me.’ My ears have heard about you, But now I do see you with my eyes. That is why I take back what I said, And I repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:2-6).

After a very severely disciplined against the three Job accusers, Jehovah God delivered Job from his tribulation, created by Satan the devil:

“After Jehovah had spoken these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite:

“My anger burns against you and your two companions, for you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job, and offer up a burnt sacrifice for yourselves. And my servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his request not to deal with you according to your foolishness, for you have not spoken the truth about me as my servant Job has.”

9 So Elʹiphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what Jehovah had told them to do. And Jehovah accepted Job’s prayer.

10 After Job had prayed for his companions, Jehovah removed Job’s tribulation and restored his prosperity. Jehovah gave him double what he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and all his former friends came to him and ate a meal with him in his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him over all the calamity that Jehovah had allowed to come upon him. Each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.

12 So Jehovah blessed the last part of Job’s life more than the beginning, and Job came to have 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pairs of cattle, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He also came to have seven more sons and three more daughters. 14 He named the first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this Job lived for 140 years, and he saw his children and his grandchildren—four generations. 17 Finally Job died, after a long and satisfying life” (Job 42:7-17).

God's Mercy and the Suffering of Job's Wife

The definition of mercy is compassion in action. Very often, mercy is associated with a court decision which spares the culprit due to extenuating circumstances: "Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).

In Job's book, particularly the narrative of the disasters that occurred to him, described in chapters 1 and 2, we are impressed, and rightly, by the sufferings he had to endure. However, very often, there is a person who is forgotten, and who has suffered very exactly the same serious tribulation (without the deadly Job's disease), it is his wife. Indeed, in addition in having lost all her property, with her husband Job, she had the suffering that all mothers fear the most in the world, the death of her child. However, Job's wife did not lose one, two, three, four, five... children, but ten children in one moment, sons and daughters (Job 1:18,19). It is likely that the serious emotional pain of Job's wife, like this mother who had lost, in one moment, her daughters and sons, made her fall, in a moment, in the most complete madness. In the book of the Ecclesiastes, it is written: "But oppression can drive the wise one into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart" (Ecclesiastes 7:7). If Job had chosen her as his wife, it is that she was certainly a woman of great wisdom.

But now, here is what is written in Job's narrative: "Finally his wife said to him: “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!”" (Job 2:9). As her husband said, she spoke like a senseless woman: "But he said to her: “You are talking like one of the senseless women. Should we accept only what is good from the true God and not accept also what is bad?” In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips" (job 2:10). We can note that Job includes his wife, when he was speaking about their tribulation ("we” accept), which demonstrates that he recognized that she was his companion in this great misfortune.

The conclusion of the book Job shows us, in an indirect way, the mercy of God toward the wife of Job, who spoke, in a moment of madness, as a senseless woman. In the conclusion of this book, we read that God has been indignant against the three accusers of the devil, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. There is no mention of what God could have said about the senseless words of Job's wife. It is possible that God considered several factors which led Him to forgive her: the intense emotional pain which pushed her to a momentary madness. He could consider that the fact that Job reprimanded her, was enough, with later the absolute necessity for Job's wife, to ask for the forgiveness of God, in prayer, for her serious offense. God has shown a great mercy to Job's wife, giving her ten other children. Obviously, they have not replaced the first ten who perished; however, it is likely, that she found a consolation. The story mentions that Job was blessed double. At the time of the resurrection, there will be not ten, but twenty children that they will welcome (double) (acts 24:15). Nevertheless, the sin of Job's wife was serious enough to be mentioned in the Bible, not only to underline her mistake, but also to show that God is merciful even for those who directly offend him: "I will favor the one whom I favor, and I will show mercy to the one to whom I show mercy" (Exodus 33:19).

Meditation on the book of Ruth

The historical period of the Book of Ruth is at the beginning of the governance of the judges in Israel, that is to say, towards the end of the tenth century BCE (before common era) (see the biblical Book of Judges). This biblical book has a highly emotional historical narrative based on a dramatic part of the life of Ruth, widow of one of the two sons of Naomi, who died prematurely (Orpah was his second daughter-in-law, widow of the second deceased son). Naomi was also a widow of Elimelech. The chapter 1 sums up very well the historical framework of this book which will have a happy conclusion. This meditation will bring out the qualities of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. Regarding Ruth, her important quality was her loyalty to Naomi when the situation seemed particularly dark for these two women. Obviously, we can mention Ruth's attachment to the Heavenly Father Jehovah God. This reflection will also show that this book has not only an anecdotal value, but also in connection with the future coming of the Messiah (at the time of the story), in its chronological aspect. Indeed, Elimelech and Naomi were from Bethlehem Ephratha in Judah, mentioned in the prophecy regarding to the birthplace of the Child Jesus, in Micah 5:2.

Chapter 1

“Now in the days when the judges administered justice, a famine occurred in the land; and a man went from Bethlehem in Judah to reside as a foreigner in the fields of Moab, he along with his wife and his two sons. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they came to the fields of Moab and remained there.

3 After some time Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 The men later married Moabite women; one was named Orpah, and the other was named Ruth. They remained there for about ten years. 5 Then the two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, also died, and the woman was left without her two children and her husband. 6 So she started out with her daughters-in-law to return from the fields of Moab, for she had heard in Moab that Jehovah had turned his attention to his people by giving them food.

7 She left the place where she had been living with both of her daughters-in-law. As they were walking on the road to return to the land of Judah, 8 Naomi said to both of her daughters-in-law: “Go, return, each of you to your mother’s home. May Jehovah show loyal love to you, just as you have shown it to the men who have died and to me. 9 May Jehovah grant that each of you finds security in the home of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept loudly. 10 They kept saying to her: “No, but we will go with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said: “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Can I still give birth to sons who could become your husbands? 12 Return, my daughters. Go, for I have grown too old to marry. Even if I could hope to find a husband tonight and could also bear sons, 13 would you keep waiting for them until they could grow up? Would you refrain from getting remarried for their sakes? No, my daughters, I feel very bitter for you, because the hand of Jehovah has turned against me.”

14 Again they wept loudly, after which Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and departed. But Ruth stuck with her. 15 So Naomi said: “Look! Your widowed sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Return with your sister-in-law.”

16 But Ruth said: “Do not plead with me to abandon you, to turn back from accompanying you; for where you go I will go, and where you spend the night, I will spend the night. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May Jehovah do so to me and add to it if anything but death should separate me from you.”

18 When Naomi saw that Ruth insisted on going with her, she stopped trying to convince her. 19 And they both continued on their way until they came to Bethlehem. As soon as they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city became stirred up over them, and women were saying: “Is this Naomi?” 20 She would say to the women: “Do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I was full when I went, but Jehovah made me return empty-handed. Why should you call me Naomi, when it is Jehovah who opposed me and the Almighty who caused me calamity?”

22 This is how Naomi returned from the fields of Moab, along with her Moabite daughter-in-law Ruth. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest”.

There is no need to come back to the historical framework of the book well described in the introduction. The situation was particularly dramatic for these three women, Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. While Naomi took the decision to return to Bethlehem Ephratha in Judah, Ruth and Orpah decided to go with her. There is no doubt that so much Ruth, and Orpah, loved Naomi. While Naomi, had decided to leave, these two young women could, from the beginning, tell her to leave alone, by remaining in their country of Moab in order to remarry.

During the return to the country, maybe at the beginning of the trip, Naomi had to be very embarrassed by the situation. Indeed, she thought of the future of these two young women and in the fact that they accompanied her in her dramatic situation. Here is what she said to them: "Naomi said to both of her daughters-in-law: “Go, return, each of you to your mother’s home. May Jehovah show loyal love to you, just as you have shown it to the men who have died and to me. May Jehovah grant that each of you finds security in the home of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept loudly” (verses 8 and 9). Naomi asked Ruth and Orpah to stop accompanying her, adding a blessing for those two young women. At first, they categorically refused: "Then she kissed them, and they wept loudly. They kept saying to her: “No, but we will go with you to your people”" (verse 10). There is no doubt that the three women were all very sincere. Naomi did not want to inflict a sad future on them by her side, as a widow without children and without the possibility of having offspring.

This is why in all sincerity and perhaps with a greater insistence and more firmness, with arguments showing that her situation was desperate, she repeated them to leave and let her to return alone to the country: "But Naomi said: “Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Can I still give birth to sons who could become your husbands? Return, my daughters. Go, for I have grown too old to marry. Even if I could hope to find a husband tonight and could also bear sons, would you keep waiting for them until they could grow up? Would you refrain from getting remarried for their sakes? No, my daughters, I feel very bitter for you, because the hand of Jehovah has turned against me”” (verses 11-13).

Naomi sincerely thought in the future of these two young women who still had a whole life in front of them. She did not want to spoil their future with a sad life by her side. Finally, Orpah took into account the arguments of Naomi, she went back to the country of Moab (verse 14). But Ruth insisted stubbornly to stay with Naomi by agreeing to assume all the unfavorable circumstances of her decision to accompany her: "So Naomi said: “Look! Your widowed sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Return with your sister-in-law”” (verse 15). Naomi insisted a third time maybe by suggesting her to be "reasonable" and to do like her sister-in-law, returning to the country with its culture and traditional god. However, Ruth persisted in her decision to stay with her mother-in-law: "But Ruth said: “Do not plead with me to abandon you, to turn back from accompanying you; for where you go I will go, and where you spend the night, I will spend the night. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May Jehovah do so to me and add to it if anything but death should separate me from you”" (verses 16,17). In verse 18, it is written that Ruth persisted.

It is a very good example of loyalty in the tribulations of life... Ruth illustrated in a beautiful way that faithful attitude is visible not when things are fine, but rather when everything seems to be going wrong... Ruth remained faithfully alongside Naomi, the elderly widow who did not seem to have a happy future ahead of her... Jesus Christ said that the true love was visible in the unfavorable circumstances of life (Matthew 5:43-48). The continuation of the narrative seems to indicate that Elimelech, the deceased husband of Naomi, was a man well known in Bethlehem in Judah, to the point that when Naomi, his widow, returned, it is written that "the whole city became stirred up over them" (verse 19).

***

In chapter 2, there is the narrative about Boaz, an eminent and very wealthy man, a landowner of the Elimelech family. He will become the key to a happy reversal of circumstances for Naomi and Ruth:

Chapter 2

“Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side who was very wealthy; his name was Boaz, and he was of the family of Elimelech.

2 Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi: “Let me go out, please, to the fields and glean among the ears of grain behind whoever looks on me with favor.” So Naomi said to her: “Go, my daughter.” 3 At that she went out and began to glean in the field behind the harvesters. By chance she came upon a plot of land belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters: “Jehovah be with you.” And they replied: “Jehovah bless you.”

5 Boaz then asked the young man in charge of the harvesters: “To whom does this young woman belong?” 6 The young man in charge of the harvesters answered: “The young woman is a Moabitess who returned with Naomi from the fields of Moab. 7 She asked, ‘Please, may I glean and gather among the cut-off ears of grain left behind by the harvesters?’ And she has been on her feet since she came this morning until just now, when she sat in the shelter for a short rest.”

8 Then Boaz said to Ruth: “Listen, my daughter. Do not go away to glean in another field, and do not go anywhere else; stay close by my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they harvest, and go with them. I have commanded the young men not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the young men have drawn.”

10 At that she fell facedown and bowed down to the ground and said to him: “How have I found favor in your eyes, and why have you taken notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” 11 Boaz answered her: “A full report was made to me of all you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your relatives to go to a people whom you had not known before. 12 May Jehovah reward you for what you have done, and may there be a perfect wage for you from Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” 13 To this she said: “Let me find favor in your eyes, my lord, because you have comforted me and spoken reassuringly to your servant, although I am not even one of your servants.”

14 Boaz said to her at mealtime: “Come here, eat some of the bread, and dip your piece in the vinegar.” So she sat down beside the harvesters. He then handed her some roasted grain, and she ate and was satisfied, and she had something left over. 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men: “Let her glean even among the cut-off ears of grain, and do not mistreat her. 16 You should also be sure to pull out some ears of grain from the bundles for her and leave them behind for her to glean, and do not say anything to stop her.”

17 So she continued to glean in the field until evening. When she beat out what she had gleaned, it came to about an ephah of barley. 18 Then she took it and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Ruth also took out and gave to her the food that was left over after she had eaten her fill.

19 Her mother-in-law then said to her: “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? May the one who took notice of you be blessed.” So she told her mother-in-law about whom she had worked with, saying: “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.” 20 At that Naomi said to her daughter-in-law: “May he be blessed by Jehovah, who has not failed in his loyal love toward the living and the dead.” Naomi continued: “The man is related to us. He is one of our repurchasers.” 21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said: “He also told me, ‘Stay close by my young people until they have finished my entire harvest.’” 22 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth: “It is better, my daughter, for you to go out with his young women than to be harassed in another field.”

23 So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz and gleaned until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest came to an end. And she kept dwelling with her mother-in-law”.

There is information which will be examined in the order of the narrative of the chapter 2. The practice of gleaning was a merciful requirement of the mosaic law towards the poor people: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not reap the edge of your field completely and you must not pick up the gleaning of your harvest. Also, you must not gather the leftovers of your vineyard or pick up the scattered grapes of your vineyard. You should leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am Jehovah your God" (Leviticus 19:9,10). "When you reap your harvest from your field and you have forgotten a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It should be left for the foreign resident, the fatherless child, and the widow, so that Jehovah your God may bless you in all that you do. When you beat your olive tree, you should not repeat the procedure on its branches. What is left should remain for the foreign resident, the fatherless child, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not return to gather the leftovers. They should be left for the foreign resident, the fatherless child, and the widow. Remember that you became a slave in the land of Egypt. That is why I am commanding you to do this" (Deuteronomy 24:19-22).

In verse 3, it is written that Ruth went to glean "by chance" in the field of Boaz. It is very possible that this simple "by chance", is in fact a divine providence, or the hand of Jehovah God who guided her to this field to glean, according to Naomi (verse 20). It is written in verse 4 that Boaz was a pious man, attached to God: "Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters: “Jehovah be with you”". And as soon as he arrived his attention focused on Ruth. Maybe the presence of this young woman with delicate appearance, among the harvesters seemed unusual, because the harvest of barley and the harvest of wheat is a task that requires a lot of endurance, under the sun.

In verse 3, it is written that Ruth went to glean "by chance" in the field of Boaz. It is very possible that this simple "by chance", is in fact a divine providence, or the hand of Jehovah God who guided her to this field to glean, according to Naomi (verse 20). It is written in verse 4 that Boaz was a pious man, attached to God: "Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters: “Jehovah be with you”". And as soon as he arrived his attention focused on Ruth (verse 5). Maybe the presence of this young woman with delicate appearance, among the harvesters seemed unusual, because the harvest of barley and the harvest of wheat is a task that requires a lot of endurance, under the sun.

The narrative reveals another high quality from Boaz, kindness and benevolence (verses 8 and 9). In verse 8, Boaz addressed to Ruth by calling her "my daughter" which shows that not only Ruth was a young woman, but also, that Boaz was a mature man (compare with verse 2). We can note the humility and the sense of gratitude of Ruth to Boaz (verse 10). Boaz explained to Ruth that his good reputation had reached his ears, regarding her good behavior toward Naomi, her mother-in-law (verses 11,12). The blessing of Boaz written in verse 12 is very beautiful: "May Jehovah reward you for what you have done, and may there be a perfect wage for you from Jehovah the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge". Ruth was really a valiant woman maintaining endurance. Not only, after gleaning the barley at the end of the day, she threshed the grains and put them in a bag of about twenty kilos and returned to the home of Naomi (verse 17). This very hard work lasted several weeks, even several months (verse 23).

In verse 20, it is written that Naomi informed Ruth that Boaz was one of their "repurchasers". That was another merciful requirement of the mosaic law towards the men who died without having offspring, which in fact interrupted their family line. It was the law of levirate marriage or brother-in-law marriage: "If brothers dwell together and one of them dies without having a son, the wife of the dead one should not marry someone from outside the family. Her brother-in-law should go to her, take her as his wife, and perform brother-in-law marriage with her. The firstborn whom she will bear will carry on the name of his dead brother, so that his name may not be wiped out of Israel" (Deuteronomy 25:5,6). Elimelech and his two sons died without having descendant so their family name was doomed to disappear definitively. The merciful requirement toward the memory of the death was the Levirate marriage allowing, the first born from this marriage, to have the name of the deceased man who had no descendants. Thus, through this "repurchase", the line and the name of Elimelech could continue by this levirate marriage. Boaz, by divine providence, was one of these repurchasers.

***

It is obvious that the light of a beautiful hope shone in the heart of Naomi. As wise woman she took on arrangements to benefit from the requirement of this merciful divine law:

Chapter 3

“Naomi, her mother-in-law, now said to her: “My daughter, should I not look for a home for you, so that it may go well with you? 2 Is not Boaz our relative? He is the one whose young women you were with. Tonight he is winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 So wash yourself and rub on some perfumed oil; then dress up and go down to the threshing floor. Do not make your presence known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, take note of the place where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you should do.”

5 At that she replied: “All that you say to me I will do.” 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did all that her mother-in-law had instructed her to do. 7 Meanwhile, Boaz ate and drank and was feeling good at heart. Then he went to lie down at the end of the grain heap. After that she quietly came and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 At midnight the man began to shiver, and he leaned forward and saw a woman lying at his feet. 9 He said: “Who are you?” She replied: “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread out your garment over your servant, for you are a repurchaser.” 10 At that he said: “May Jehovah bless you, my daughter. You have shown your loyal love more in this last instance than in the first instance, by not going after the young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, have no fear. I will do for you everything that you say, for everyone in the city knows that you are an excellent woman. 12 While it is true that I am a repurchaser, there is a repurchaser more closely related than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and if he will repurchase you in the morning, fine! Let him repurchase you. But if he does not want to repurchase you, I will then repurchase you myself, as surely as Jehovah lives. Lie down here until the morning.”

14 So she lay at his feet until the morning and then got up before it was light enough for anyone to be recognized. He then said: “Do not let it be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 He also said: “Bring the cloak that you are wearing, and hold it out.” So she held it out, and he put six measures of barley in it and put it on her, after which he went into the city.

16 She went her way to her mother-in-law, who now said: “How did it go for you, my daughter?” She told her everything that the man had done for her. 17 She added: “He gave me these six measures of barley and said to me, ‘Do not go empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” 18 At that she said: “Sit here, my daughter, until you learn how the matter will turn out, for the man will not rest until he settles the matter today””.

After Ruth said to Boaz that he was a potential repurchaser. Boaz saw, a second time, that Ruth had a good heart particularly towards Naomi and her deceased husband Elimelech, in order to allow to arouse an offspring by means of a levirate marriage. Boaz was aware that he was much older than Ruth, that is why he pointed out the kindness of heart of Ruth which was manifested by accepting this levirate marriage, rather than to get married with a young husband (verse 10). Nevertheless, we can see how much Boaz was a man with a right heart. He informed Ruth that he was not the closest parent of Elimelech and that therefore, it was his duty to notify this person, in order to assert his right as repurchaser. It is only in the case of a refusal of this closest parent, that he could get married with Ruth in the context of a levirate marriage.

***

In the morning, Boaz hastened to present the case to this closest relative of Elimelech, for the occasion, in the text, called "So-and-so":

Chapter 4

“Now Boaz went up to the city gate and sat there. And look! the repurchaser whom Boaz had mentioned passed by. At that Boaz said: “Come here and sit down, So-and-so.” And he went over and sat down. 2 Then Boaz took ten of the city elders and said: “Sit down here.” So they sat down.

3 Boaz now said to the repurchaser: “Naomi, who has returned from the fields of Moab, must sell the plot of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 So I thought I should disclose it to you and say, ‘Buy it in front of the inhabitants and the elders of my people. If you will repurchase it, repurchase it. But if you will not repurchase it, tell me so that I will know, for you have the claim to repurchase it, and I am next in line after you.’” He replied: “I am willing to repurchase it.” 5 Then Boaz said: “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you must also buy it from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead man, in order to restore the name of the dead man to his inheritance.” 6 To this the repurchaser said: “I am unable to repurchase it, for I may ruin my own inheritance. Repurchase it for yourself with my right of repurchase, because I am not able to repurchase it.”

7 Now this was the custom of former times in Israel concerning the right of repurchase and exchange to validate every sort of transaction: A man had to remove his sandal and give it to the other party, and this was the manner of confirming an agreement in Israel. 8 So when the repurchaser said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he removed his sandal. 9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people: “You are witnesses today that I am buying from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and Mahlon. 10 I am also acquiring Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, as a wife to restore the name of the dead man to his inheritance, so that the name of the dead man will not be cut off from among his brothers and from the city gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”

11 At this all the people who were in the city gate and the elders said: “We are witnesses! May Jehovah grant the wife who is entering your house to be like Rachel and like Leah, both of whom built the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and make a good name in Bethlehem. 12 May your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring that Jehovah will give you by this young woman.”

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He had relations with her, and Jehovah let her conceive and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi: “Praised be Jehovah, who has not left you without a repurchaser today. May his name be proclaimed in Israel! 15 He has restored your life and will sustain you in your old age, because he has been born to your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons.” 16 Naomi took the child and held him to her bosom, and she cared for him. 17 Then the neighbor women gave him a name. They said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, David’s father.

18 Now this is the family line of Perez: Perez became father to Hezron; 19 Hezron became father to Ram; Ram became father to Amminadab; 20 Amminadab became father to Nahshon; Nahʹshon became father to Salmon; 21 Salmon became father to Boaz; Boaz became father to Obed; 22 Obed became father to Jesse; and Jesse became father to David”.

By reading the narrative, we understand better why the individual who refused to get married with Ruth so as not to "ruin his own inheritance", was named "So-and-so". The excuse of this man was dismal. Besides, for Jehovah God, such an attitude was shameful enough to allow the widow who was rejected by a repurchaser, to remove his sandal from his foot and spit in his face: "Now if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, his brother’s widow should then go to the elders at the city gate and say, ‘My husband’s brother has refused to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He has not consented to perform brother-in-law marriage with me.’ The elders of his city must call him and speak to him. Should he insist and say, ‘I do not want to marry her,’ then his brother’s widow should approach him before the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and say, ‘That is what should be done to the man who will not build up his brother’s household.’ After that his family name in Israel will be known as ‘The house of the one who had his sandal removed’" (Deuteronomy 25:7-10). Nevertheless, this is not what Ruth did, for the simple reason, that she fortunately had a second repurchaser, the man Boaz.

It is at the very end of this biblical book that we understand that this historical narrative has not only also an anecdotal value. Thus, the Book of Ruth explains the important role of the levirate marriage regarding to the line leading to king David and later, to the man Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38). In Matthew 1:5, it is written that the mother of Boaz was Rahab, the courageous woman who saved the two spies in Jericho (Joshua chapter 2). Logically, the story of the Book of Ruth took place after the death of Joshua, that is to be under the governance of Judge Othniel, the nephew of Caleb (judges 1:13). Admittedly, these courageous and faithful women, Rahab and Ruth, do not know that Jehovah God allowed their names to cross the centuries in memory of their loyalty toward God and men, appearing in the line leading to Christ. In addition, the name of a biblical book of Ruth appears in the canon of the Holy Scriptures. It is after their resurrection that they will know how Jehovah acted with goodness toward their names and memory by virtue of their courage and their faithful love (Acts 24:15).

The happy end of the narrative of the Book of Ruth is an encouragement for those who go through trials as was the case for Naomi and Ruth. To use what the disciple James wrote, about the happy outcome concerning the faithful Job, this can just as well apply to Naomi and Ruth: "Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you do not get judged. Look! The Judge is standing before the doors. Brothers, take as a pattern of the suffering of evil and the exercising of patience the prophets who spoke in the name of Jehovah. Look! We consider happy those who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave, that Jehovah is very tender in affection and merciful" (James 5:9-11).

***

Rahab, a courageous woman

Entering the Promised Land, Joshua, the successor of Moses, sent two spies to the city of Jericho. While they were spotted by the soldiers of the city, they went to the home of Rahab. Here is what it is written in biblical book of Joshua chapter 2:

“Then Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out from Shittim as spies. He told them: “Go and inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and they stayed there. 2 The king of Jerʹi·cho was told: “Look! Israelite men have come in here tonight to spy out the land.” 3 At that the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came and are staying in your house, for they have come to spy out the entire land.”

4 But the woman took the two men and hid them. Then she said: “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 5 And at dark when the city gate was about to be closed, the men went out. I do not know where the men went, but if you quickly chase after them, you will catch up with them.” 6 (However, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among stalks of flax laid in rows on the roof.) 7 So the men chased after them in the direction of the Jordan at the fords, and the city gate was shut once the pursuers had gone out.

8 Before the men lay down to sleep, she came up to them on the roof. 9 She said to the men: “I do know that Jehovah will give you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us. All the inhabitants of the land are disheartened because of you, 10 for we heard how Jehovah dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction on the other side of the Jordan. 11 When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no one has any courage because of you, for Jehovah your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 12 Now, please, swear to me by Jehovah that, because I showed loyal love to you, you will also show loyal love to my father’s household; and you must give me a sign of good faith. 13 You must spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and you must save us from death.”

14 At that the men said to her: “We will give our lives for yours! If you do not tell about our mission, then we will show loyal love and faithfulness toward you when Jehovah gives us the land.” 15 After that she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on a side of the city wall. In fact, she was dwelling on the wall. 16 Then she said to them: “Go to the mountainous region and hide there for three days, so that those pursuing you may not find you. Then, after your pursuers have come back, you can go on your way.”

17 The men said to her: “We will be free from guilt respecting this oath that you made us swear 18 unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window by which you let us down. You should gather your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household with you into the house. 19 Then if anyone goes out the doors of your house into the open, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be free from guilt. But if harm comes to anyone who remains with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads. 20 But if you report our mission, we will be free from guilt respecting your oath that you made us swear.” 21 She replied: “Let it be according to your words.”

With that she sent them off, and they went their way. Afterward, she tied the scarlet cord in the window. 22 So they left and went to the mountainous region and stayed there for three days, until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had been looking for them on every road but did not find them. 23 The two men then descended from the mountainous region and crossed the river and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They related to him all the things that had happened to them. 24 Then they said to Joshua: “Jehovah has handed over the entire land to us. In fact, all the inhabitants of the land are disheartened because of us””.

In Joshua chapter 6:22-25, it is written that Rahab and his family were saved for having been courageous by hiding the two spies: "Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land: “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who belong to her, just as you swore to her.” So the young spies went in and brought out Rahab, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who belonged to her; yes, they brought out her whole family, and they brought them safely to a place outside the camp of Israel. Then they burned the city and everything in it with fire. But the silver, the gold, and the articles of copper and iron, they gave to the treasury of Jehovah’s house. Only Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her were spared by Joshua; and she lives in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent out to spy on Jericho".

The apostle Paul wrote about de faith of Rahab, in the letter to the Hebrews chapter 11: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who acted disobediently, because she received the spies in a peaceable way" (Hebrews 11:30,31). Later Rahab, will be the mother of Boaz, who will marry with Ruth (whose biblical book bears his name, the Book of Ruth; Matthew 1:5).

The disciple James gave the example of Rahab to illustrate the idea that the faith must have works if someone wants to be declared righteous by God: "You see that a man is to be declared righteous by works and not by faith alone. In the same manner, was not Rahab the prostitute also declared righteous by works after she received the messengers hospitably and sent them out by another way? Indeed, just as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead" (James 2:24-26).

***

Who is Satan the devil?

Jesus Christ described the devil very concisely: “That one was a murderer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of the lie" (John 8:44). Satan the devil is not the abstraction of evil, but a real spiritual person (Matthew 4:1-11). Likewise, the demons are also angels who have become rebels who have followed the example of the devil (Genesis 6:1-3, to compare with the letter of Jude verse 6: "And the angels who did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place, he has reserved with eternal bonds in dense darkness for the judgment of the great day").

When it is written, "he did not stand fast in the truth", it shows that God created this angel without sin and without any trace of wickedness in his heart. This angel, at the beginning of his life had a "beautiful name" (Ecclesiastes 7:1a). However, "he did not stand fast" in his integrity, he cultivated pride in his heart, and over time he became "devil", which means slanderer, and Satan, opponent; his old beautiful name, his good reputation, has been replaced by one of the everlasting disgraces. In the prophecy of Ezekiel (chapter 28), against the proud king of Tyre, it is clearly alluded to the pride of the angel who became "devil" and "Satan": "This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “You were the model of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eʹden, the garden of God. You were adorned with every precious stone —Ruby, topaz, and jasper; chrysʹo·lite, onyx, and jade; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; And their settings and mountings were made of gold. They were prepared on the day you were created. I assigned you as the anointed covering cherub. You were on the holy mountain of God, and you walked about among fiery stones. You were faultless in your ways from the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you" (Ezekiel 28:12-15). Through his act of unrighteousness in Eden, he became a "liar" who caused the death of all of Adam's offspring (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). Currently, it is Satan the devil who rules the world: "Now there is a judging of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out" (John 12:31; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:19) .

Satan the devil will be permanently destroyed: "For his part, the God who gives peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly" (Genesis 3:15; Romans 16:20).

Satan the devil hurled, before King Jesus Christ to be enthroned

As surprising it could be, the book of Revelation Chapter 12, is confirming twice that Satan and his demons have been expelled from heaven before the enthronement in heaven of the King Jesus Christ:

in Revelation 12: 1-6 (to read), the “woman” of God is described as being about to give birth to a “child" as a symbol of the Kingdom of God, with the King Jesus Christ. However, verse 4 shows that Satan the dragon stood before the “woman”, ready to devour the child. Thus, the logic is to think that the “dragon” has been removed from to protect the “mother” who was giving birth to the “child”.

The heavenly war that expelled Satan and the demons from the heaven, took place before the coronation of the King Jesus Christ. This is confirmed by the repetition of the same sequence of events in Revelation 12: 7-14 (read): it is a repetition of the prophetic vision of Revelation 12: 1-6 (compare the repetition of Revelation 12: 6 and 12:14). In this biblical text, the verses12:7 to 9, it is the description of the heavenly war for to expel Satan and the demons from the heavens.

The verses 12:10-12, it is the description of the victory of Mikael and his angels over Satan and the demons. This heavenly victory has been celebrated by the official establishment of the Kingdom of God in heaven. Thus, it took place the purification of the heavens from the unclean presence of Satan and the demons, and the formal establishment of the Kingdom of God in heaven.

The Casus Belli Against Human Body Integrity

in CBRN World War

(Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear)

(Ezekiel 34)

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to the shepherds, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Is it not the flock that the shepherds should feed? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fattest animal, but you do not feed the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bandaged the injured or brought back the strays or looked for the lost; rather, you have ruled them with harshness and tyranny. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; they were scattered and became food for every wild beast of the field. My sheep were straying on all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the surface of the earth, with no one searching for them or seeking to find them”” (Ezekiel 34:2-6).

The world is currently living, since November 2019, in fact, a Casus Belli, a CBRN world war (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear), against the integrity of the human body of peoples (the lost and scattered sheep). The human body has been created by God and given to us as a divine inheritance, to take care of it, like a temple that we live in and which should be inhabited by the spirit of God: "Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that the spirit of God dwells in you? " (1 Corinthians 3:16). This human body and his life, do not belong to any state, nor even to any earthly religious entity.

This worldwide Casus Belli against the integrity of the human body, which God has entrusted to us, is not made with tanks, bombs and cannons. It is organized against the backdrop of international trafficking of military viruses (leaving a P4-type laboratory (officially manufacturing military viruses in the context of CBRN-type wars)) and cleverly orchestrated propaganda (social engineering), with the aim of to terrify the people. The basic principle of these death labs is to collect viruses that are normally found in nature, in the animal reign, and which are basically harmless to humans; they are usually not transmissible and if so, they are usually not fatal. These demonic laboratories work to make these viruses transmissible to humans through "sequencing" with an extremely complex manufactoring process that can take several months. The diabolical purpose is to obtain a "gain of function", that is to say, in this case, to make so that this (or these) virus to be fatal for the man, while increasing, of the lethality of this manufactured military virus (references or patents for these military viruses can be found at NIH GenBank or somewhere in the WHO archives (at least from one of these countries). By the way, the NIH has suppressed information from Wuhan labs on the genetic sequencing of the military virus, according to Watchdog's FOIA (March 30, 2022)) (What is Happening in Shanghai?) (Chinese Style Social Credit, Begins in Italy (Bologna)).

(Social Credit with Chinese Style and the 2030 Agenda: This agenda was adopted by the UN in September 2015 after two years of negotiations including governments and civil society. The 2030 Agenda is part of a globalist ideology, particularly in the countries of the NATO zone and its partners (Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand...). It is in these areas of the world that the fundamentalist and sectarian ideology of "Covidism", which undermines the bodily integrity of peoples, has taken root (The situation in Shanghai (China) is an illustration of this taken to its extreme and in many respects, can give us a future glimpse of this kind of dictatorship on the scale of several united states, even world). Situations of a global “pandemic”, or of climate emergency, are ready-made pretexts to establish a dictatorship, in a progressive and hidden way, over all peoples. The “voluntary” establishment of “social credit” in Italy (Bologna and Rome (end of March 2022)), is only the beginning of this process, which is part of the future establishment, latent and perverse, of an obligation"...).

After its spread, obviously "fortuitous" (not checked in one, or the other way), of this lethal military virus, follows a world press campaign, which will certify, that it is a question of a "leak" as a type accident in a nuclear power plant. We must know that a P4 laboratory, is one of the most secure places in the world. They will say, for example, that it comes from the animal reign, which is a half-truth, because it is both true and false, therefore false (true + false = false). A second stage follows, essentially based on propagandist social engineering, based on fear with repeated morbid messages and reports, to frighten the people and above all, to insist on the fact that there is no medical remedy, or even any molecule to be able to cure this military virus. The only solution is to wait for the messianic injectable chemical that will save the life of mankind.

This Casus Belli is accompanied by an experimentation of mass gene therapy on healthy human bodies, not sick, on an international scale, on all peoples (scattered sheep), injectable chemicals, more or less coercive (in defiance of the Nuremberg Code - 1947 (see the 10 articles at the end of the page) (The current worldwide gene therapy, is still officially, in the experimentation phase, therefore, it fits perfectly into the legal framework of the Nuremberg Code - 1947)). Those at the head of nations or groups of nations, who order repeated injections of these poisons into healthy human bodies, have links of financial interest known to all, direct or indirect.

This CBRN-type wars Casus Belli uses the media corrupted by money and coordinated with one another as a propaganda tool with the Goebbel 's process of propaganda (spokesman for the Hitler Nazi regime). It is common knowledge that they are in the pay of many corrupt billionaire oligarchs, who also influence many governments (the shepherds who have been feeding themselves). They create a false reality (a surreality), to frighten the people (the scattered sheep), with the purpose to mislead them psychologically and mentally, in the aim to make them adopt irrational behaviors, by successive contradictory decisions and completely assumed lies. By the administration of this social engineering of harassment and long-term mental torture, these shepherds who have been feeding themselves, obtain the consent by nervous and mental exhaustion of the scattered sheep, with a more or less latent coercion (See Ezekiel 34).

Many doctors, nurses, orderlies and housekeepers, working in medical care, were at the front to provide assistance to people affected by this military virus. Many have paid for it with their lives (What is happening in France regarding caregivers, firefighters and other people (in connection with the medical community), suspended and fired without pay, without unemployment, not reinstated, for refusing the experimental injection? (Video only in French language)). Jehovah God and his Son, Jesus Christ, will not forget them at the time of the resurrection (Acts 24:15; Hebrews 6:10). The courageous men and women who have so far denounced this Casus belli, have paid for it with their lives for some, with solitary confinement and imprisonment for others and they are treated as "conspirators", a coined term by the CIA in 1965, following the Warren Commission (official account of the circumstances surrounding the assassination of JFK).

By the way, the current senatorial commissions are, in fact, real morbid plays. We observe a diabolical role-playing games between these commissions of "inquiries", which make a game of finding fault to the people summoned and questioned, and the latter who, in the end, leave as they came in, that is free to continue their sordid works. These senatorial commissions bypass the role of prosecutors, judges and courts, who should imprison and judge these murderers, these sons of Josef Mengele, who carried out these experimental gene injections of masses, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children around the world, and millions of debilitating consequences for those who survived. These murderous liars apply the logic of the collective suicide of peoples, like Jim Jones and David Koresh, gurus who did not want to die alone, but who wanted to be accompanied in their madness by their hundreds of followers who committed "suicide". We also live, in a logic of global, economic, diplomatic massive destruction which causes wars and the destruction of peoples. They are in the same logic of murderous headlong rush, like these two sect leaders.

As we are very close to the Great Tribulation, a prophecy from Revelation and the book of Daniel is being fulfilled before our eyes: "He also tells me: “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, for the appointed time is near. Let the one who is unrighteous continue in unrighteousness, and let the filthy one continue in his filth; but let the righteous one continue in righteousness, and let the holy one continue in holiness"" (Revelation 22:10,11). "Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand; but those having insight will understand” (Daniel 12:10). Until King Jesus Christ sweeps these scoundrels off the face of the earth during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 19:11-21), those who practice righteousness in their hearts pray this prayer to the Heavenly Father daily, Jehovah God: "Finally, brothers, carry on prayer for us, that the word of Jehovah may keep spreading rapidly and being glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be rescued from harmful and wicked men, for faith is not a possession of all people. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the wicked one" (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3).

In this worldwide diabolical situation, which attacks the bodily integrity of men, women, children and even, unfortunately, that of infants, what must the Christian do, to please Jehovah God and his Son Jesus Christ?

Jehovah asks everyone to take care of the human body as a temple: "Therefore, I appeal to you by the compassion of God, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason" (Romans 12:1). This body has been created for a sacred service to God, that is, to conform to the purpose which he originally made at the time of the creation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26-28).

Taking medication is a personal decision, weighing the risks for our life. It must be done in a medical setting, to be treated. This medication should not be done under governmental or moral coercion, for example within the framework of a congregation. If this were the case, these governmental authorities, see spiritual, would go beyond article 1 of the Nuremberg Code - 1947, which forbids medical experiments under harassment (Reminder: the worldwide gene therapy in progress, is still officially, in the experimental  process, therefore, it fits perfectly into the legal framework of the Nuremberg Code - 1947): "The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion. (…)" (Extract from article 1, of the Nuremberg Code - 1947).

In the current context, Christians must double their vigilance. He should refrain from bringing in experimental chemicals, especially for reasons unrelated to their health and that of their own children. These experimental injectable products have so far caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people around the world, and made thousands more seriously ill (VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (www.vaers.hhs.gov)). Most of these gene injections are made for reasons that have nothing to do with the health of adults and even less that of children, but rather, under non-medical pretexts of privilege, to be able to go to restaurants, bowling or other places of pleasure, justified by completely fallacious arguments and in the form of blackmail. Others have been forced on pain of losing their jobs and source of income. The fact of requiring that in order to go to a place, to have an object or a product penetrate our body, is in no way a medical act, but an act of marking, as one would do for animals, before d to enter an enclosure ; it is a marked violation of the spiritual and sacred dimension of the integrity of the human body.

Parents should seriously consider this issue, for their children and for them, in prayer to face this strange and sometimes distressing situation. Teachers of the Word of God should think seriously, with much prayer, on this question because this situation is not trivial regarding the biblical spirituality and more generally ethics (Romans 14:12). It is quite normal to feel disoriented, perplexed and surprised when faced with this extremely perverse attack from Satan the devil and his human demons. Let us pray to Jehovah God, let us ask for his help, He is merciful. If we think at first that we have not made the best decision, it can happen to anyone. Jehovah God sees our good intentions. Let us be courageous, let us trust in Jehovah God and his beloved Son Jesus Christ and they will support us (Proverbs 3:5,6). Let us not be afraid and be strong, let us support each other, whether with family, friends, or in congregation, let us love each other (John 13:34,35).

Christian Shepherds, how have you behaved in this matter?

The world has been victim to a global experimentation with a chemical that was injected for reasons based on a false claim. Pfizer would not have tested the effectiveness of its vaccines on the transmission of the virus. However, many Christian shepherds have pressured the sheep in their congregation to be injected, based on this false claim of the "vaccine" which would prevent the transmission of the virus. Even more serious, this pressure was exerted on young people who were for the most part not in danger if they did not get injected.

Tens of thousands of people died as a result of this experimental injection. Millions of people around the world have had extremely serious consequences as a result of this experimental injection. And what about this excess of mortality observed in recent times, even among young people? However, to "weight" the seriousness of the after-effects, some analyze the situation in terms of statistics... But for Jehovah God, the death of a single innocent human being, is in no way a "statistic"... In other words, if a Christian shepherd encouraged such an experimental injection, on the scale of the congregation for which he would be responsible before Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, and that this would have caused serious after-effects, until the death of only one of his sheep, in what situation does he find himself before God and his Son?

Here is what we can read in Deuteronomy, regarding the discovery of the body of a dead man in the field: "If someone is found slain in a field of the land that Jehovah your God is giving you to possess and it is not known who killed him, your elders and judges should go out and measure the distance from the dead body to the cities that surround it. Then the elders of the city nearest to the body should take from the herd a young cow that has never been put to work, that has never pulled in a yoke, and the elders of that city should lead the young cow down to a valley running with water where no tilling or sowing of seed has been done, and they should break the neck of the young cow there in the valley. And the priests, the Levites, will approach because Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, to pronounce blessings in the name of Jehovah. They will declare how every dispute involving violence should be resolved. Then all the elders of the city who are nearest to the dead body should wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley, and they should declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. Do not hold this against your people Israel, whom you redeemed, O Jehovah, and do not let guilt for innocent blood remain among your people Israel.’ Then the bloodguilt will not be held against them. In this way you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst by doing what is right in Jehovah’s eyes" (Deuteronomy 21:1-9).

For Jehovah God and his Son and King Jesus Christ, the death of even one of their congregational sheep is nothing trivial according to Deuteronomy 21:1-9. It is appropriate, that in each Christian congregation, the shepherds make their examination of conscience, regarding this affair and draw the consequences... Do they fulfill, yes or no, still the conditions of Christian shepherds (Read 1 Timothy 3:1-7) ?

The ten points of the Nuremberg Code - 1947

1 - The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment. The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs, or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.

2 - The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature.

3 - The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment.

4 - The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.

5 - No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.

6 - The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.

7 - Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability, or death.

8 - The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons. The highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.

9 - During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.

10 - During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him, that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.

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