Jehovah Congregates His Joyful People “Congregate the people, the men and the women and the little ones and your alien resident.”—DEUT. 31:12. HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER? Why can it be said that conventions have been landmarks in the history of Jehovah’s people? What efforts did many ancient Israelites have to make to attend the festivals in Jerusalem? Why should you not miss a convention? INTERNATIONAL and district conventions have been a feature of the modern-day history of Jehovah’s Witnesses for as long as most of us can remember. Many of us have attended a number of these joyful events, perhaps scores of them over the decades. 2 Thousands of years ago, God’s people also held holy conventions. We will review some Scriptural precedents for modern-day conventions, note similarities between ancient and modern features of such gatherings, and focus on benefits received from attending them.—Ps. 44:1; Rom. 15:4. LANDMARK CONVENTIONS, ANCIENT AND MODERN 3 The assembly at the base of Mount Sinai was the first large gathering of God’s people for spiritual instruction on record. It truly was a landmark event in the history of pure worship. On that thrilling occasion, which participants no doubt never forgot, Jehovah gave the Israelites a demonstration of his power when he gave them his Law. (Ex. 19:2-9, 16-19; read Exodus 20:18; Deuteronomy 4:9, 10.) That event was key to God’s subsequent dealings with Israel. Not long thereafter, Jehovah established a means by which to summon his people. He ordered Moses to make two silver trumpets that would be used to call “the whole assembly” to meet “at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” (Num. 10:1-4) Try to imagine the excitement on such occasions! 4 Toward the end of Israel’s 40-year sojourn in the wilderness, at a critical moment in that relatively new nation’s history, Moses assembled his fellow Israelites. They were poised to enter the Promised Land. This was the right time for Moses to remind his brothers of all that Jehovah had done for them and all that he would still do for them.—Deut. 29:1-15; 30:15-20; 31:30. 5 Perhaps at that same convention, Moses referred to the regular provision for the assembly and education of God’s people. In Sabbath years during the Festival of Booths, the men, women, children, and alien residents of Israel were to congregate in the place Jehovah chose ‘in order for them to listen and in order for them to learn to fear Jehovah and take care to carry out all the words of the law.’ (Read Deuteronomy 31:1, 10-12.) So at this early stage in the history of God’s people, it was clear that they were to gather frequently to consider Jehovah’s word and purposes. When the Israelites had completed the conquest of the Promised Land but were still surrounded by pagan nations, Joshua assembled all Israel with the aim of fortifying their resolve to remain loyal to Jehovah. In response, the people made an oath to serve God.—Josh. 23:1, 2; 24:1, 15, 21-24. 6 In the modern history of Jehovah’s people, there have also been landmark conventions—events that marked major developments in theocratic activities or Scriptural understanding. (Prov. 4:18) The first major convention that the Bible Students held after World War I was in 1919 in Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A. That gathering, attended by some 7,000, was marked by the launching of a global preaching campaign. In 1922, during a nine-day convention at the same location, dramatic impetus was given to this activity by Joseph F. Rutherford, who urged his attentive audience: “Be faithful and true witnesses for the Lord. Go forward in the fight until every vestige of Babylon lies desolate. Herald the message far and wide. The world must know that Jehovah is God and that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the day of all days. Behold, the King reigns! You are his publicity agents. Therefore advertise, advertise, advertise, the King and his kingdom.” Attendees, and indeed God’s people worldwide, joyfully embraced that exhortation. 7 In Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, the Bible Students were absolutely thrilled to accept the name Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then in 1935, in Washington, D.C., Brother Rutherford identified the “great crowd,” described in Revelation as “standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9-17) In 1942, in the midst of World War II, Nathan H. Knorr delivered the thrilling discourse “Peace—Can It Last?” In it, he identified the “scarlet-colored wild beast” of Revelation 17 and indicated that there would still be much preaching to do after the war. 8 Especially notable at the 1946 “Glad Nations” Theocratic Assembly in Cleveland, Ohio, was Brother Knorr’s discourse “The Problems of Reconstruction and Expansion.” Capturing the excitement generated by that talk, one attendee wrote: “I had the privilege of being behind him on the platform that evening, and as he outlined the work and then told about the plans for enlarging the Brooklyn Bethel home and factory, the applause from the vast audience surged in renewed outbursts. While one could see no distinct face from the platform, it was easy to sense their joy.” At an international convention in New York City in 1950, the audience was delighted to receive the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, the first installment of a modern-language Bible that restored God’s name to its rightful place in his Word.—Jer. 16:21. 9 Conventions at which Jehovah gathered his faithful Witnesses after periods of persecution or ban were also intensely moving. Adolf Hitler had vowed to destroy Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany, but 107,000 of them filled his former parade grounds in Nuremberg during a convention in 1955. Many of those present could not hold back their tears of joy! Among the 166,518 delegates at three “Godly Devotion” conventions held in Poland in 1989 were large numbers of delegates from what were then the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, and from other Eastern European countries. For some, it was the first time they had attended a gathering of more than 15 or 20 of God’s people. And imagine the joy at the 1993 “Divine Teaching” International Convention in Kiev, Ukraine, where 7,402 were immersed—the largest baptism of Jehovah’s Witnesses on record.—Isa. 60:22; Hag. 2:7. 10 Perhaps there are district conventions or international conventions that stand out in your mind. Do you remember your first convention or perhaps the one at which you were baptized? These were landmark spiritual events for you. Treasure those memories!—Ps. 42:4.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 10:10:36 +0000
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