I, Jehovah your God, am grasping your right hand, the One saying to you, “Do not be afraid. I will help you.” —Isa. 41:13.

Consider the example of Joseph of Arimathea. He was well-regarded by Jewish society. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme court. However, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, Joseph was anything but courageous. John said that he was “a disciple of Jesus but a secret one because of his fear of the Jews.” (John 19:38) Although Joseph was interested in the Kingdom message, he hid from others that he had faith in Jesus. No doubt he was afraid that he would lose his prestigious position in the community. Whatever the case, the Bible tells us that after Jesus died, Joseph finally “took courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.” (Mark 15:42, 43) Joseph’s support of Jesus was now no longer a secret. Can you relate to Joseph’s fear of man? w23.01 30 ¶13-14
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The book of Isaiah is prophetic. It is only set in ancient times, but it is really about the future; specifically, the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Beginning with the 40th chapter Jehovah speaks to his people in captivity in Babylon; but, again, God is really speaking to the citizens of spiritual Israel who will find themselves in a deplorable, captive situation during the great tribulation. That is the setting for Christ’s appearance on the world’s stage. Did not Jesus say that the tribulation will be cut short on account of the chosen ones, otherwise no flesh would survive?

Consider what is revealed with the opening of the sixth seal of the scroll: It describes the great tribulation in symbols. In part, it reads: “And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the entire moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as when a fig tree shaken by a high wind drops its unripe figs. And the heaven departed as a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and every island was removed from its place.”

Jesus used similar phraseology when he spoke of the tribulation and the powers of the heavens being shaken and men becoming faint with fear in dread of all the things coming down. As Jesus said, it will come upon the entire inhabited earth. There will be no hiding place, no remote island sanctuary.

But by divine intervention, the nuclear holocaust will be interrupted. And that is the point in time when the prerecorded words of God in the opening verses of the 41st chapter of Isaiah are spoken. “Listen to me in silence, you islands; let the nations regain their strength. Let them approach; then let them speak. Let us come together for judgment.”

For the remainder of the text click on the link below
https://e-jehovahs-witnesses.com/index.php?threads/saturday-feb-24th-one-from-the-rising-of-the-sun.3661/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kXDKwWXcnk