1-2. (a) What action have some governments taken against Jehovah’s people, but how do his people react? (b) How can persecution result in happiness? (Comment also on the cover picture.)

 RIGHT now, our work is restricted or banned in over 30 lands around the world. In some of those lands, the authorities have imprisoned our brothers and sisters. What did they do wrong? Nothing, as far as Jehovah is concerned. All they have done is read and study the Bible, share their beliefs with others, and attend meetings with fellow believers. They have also refused to take sides in political matters. Despite intense opposition, these faithful servants of God have maintained their integrity b​—showing unbreakable devotion to Jehovah. And they are happy for doing just that!

² You have likely seen pictures of some of these courageous Witnesses and noticed their smiling faces. They are joyful because they know that Jehovah is pleased with them for keeping their integrity to him. (1 Chron. 29:17a) Jesus said: “Happy are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake . . . Rejoice and be overjoyed, since your reward is great.”​—Matt. 5:10-12.

3. As reported at Acts 4:19, 20, how did the apostles react to persecution in the first century, and why so?

³ Our brothers and sisters are experiencing what the apostles endured in the first century when they were persecuted for preaching about Jesus. Repeatedly, the judges of the Jewish high court “ordered them to stop speaking on the basis of Jesus’ name.” (Acts 4:18; 5:27, 28, 40) How did the apostles react? (Read Acts 4:19, 20.) They knew that a higher authority had ‘ordered them to preach to the people and to give a thorough witness’ about the Christ. (Acts 10:42) So their spokesmen, Peter and John, boldly said that they would obey God rather than those judges and declared that they would not stop speaking about Jesus. In effect, they put this question to those authorities, ‘Do you dare to say that your commands are superior to those of God?’

4. As revealed at Acts 5:27-29, what example did the apostles set for all true Christians, and how can we imitate them?

⁴ The apostles set a fine example that all true Christians have followed ever since, namely, to “obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Read Acts 5:27-29.) After being beaten for keeping their integrity, the apostles went out from the Jewish high court, “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of [Jesus’] name,” and they kept right on preaching!​—Acts 5:40-42.

5. What questions do we need to answer?

⁵ The example that the apostles set raises some questions. For instance, how did their decision to obey God rather than men harmonize with the Scriptural command to “be in subjection to the superior authorities”? (Rom. 13:1) How can we “be obedient to governments and authorities,” as the apostle Paul said, and still keep integrity to God as our foremost Ruler?​—Titus 3:1.

6. (a) Who are “the superior authorities” mentioned at Romans 13:1, and what obligation do we have toward them? (b) What is true of all human rulers?

⁶ Read Romans 13:1. In this verse, the term “superior authorities” refers to human rulers who have power and control over others. Christians are subject to these secular authorities. These rulers maintain public order, enforce the law, and at times even come to the defense of Jehovah’s people. (Rev. 12:16) Thus, we are commanded to render them the taxes, tributes, fear, and honor that they demand. (Rom. 13:7) However, those secular governments have authority only because Jehovah allows them to have it. Jesus made that principle clear when he was interrogated by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. When Pilate referred to the authority he had either to spare Jesus’ life or to have him put to death, Jesus told him: “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been granted to you from above.” (John 19:11) As was the case with Pilate, the authority of all human rulers and politicians today is limited.

7. In what situations must we not submit to human rulers, and of what should they be aware?

⁷ Christians submit to human governments when secular laws do not contradict God’s laws. But we cannot obey men when they require what God forbids or when they forbid what God requires. For example, they may require young men to fight in the armed forces of the nation. c Or they may ban our Bible and our Bible-based publications and forbid us to preach and to worship together. When rulers misuse their authority, such as by persecuting Christ’s disciples, they must answer to God. Jehovah is watching!​—Eccl. 5:8.

8. What is the difference between “superior” and “supreme,” and why does this matter?

⁸ The word “superior” means “better, greater, higher in rank.” But it does not mean “best, greatest, highest in rank.” That describes another word​—“supreme.” Even though human governments are referred to as “the superior authorities,” there exists another authority that is the highest in rank​—supreme. Four times in the Bible, Jehovah God is given the title “the Supreme One.”​—Dan. 7:18, 22, 25, 27.

9. What did the prophet Daniel see in visions?

⁹ The prophet Daniel saw visions that clearly showed Jehovah’s supremacy over all other authorities. Daniel first saw four huge beasts that symbolize past and present world powers​—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome and its modern-day offshoot, Anglo-America. (Dan. 7:1-3, 17) Then Daniel saw Jehovah God sitting enthroned in the heavenly court. (Dan. 7:9, 10) What that faithful prophet saw next should serve as a warning to rulers today.

10. According to Daniel 7:13, 14, 27, to whom does Jehovah turn over rulership of the earth, and what does this prove about Him?

¹⁰ Read Daniel 7:13, 14, 27. God takes all rulership away from human governments and gives it to others more deserving and more powerful. To whom? To “someone like a son of man,” Jesus Christ, and to “the holy ones of the Supreme One,” the 144,000 who will rule “forever and ever.” (Dan. 7:18) Clearly, Jehovah is “the Supreme One,” for he alone has the authority to take such action.

11. What else did Daniel write that shows Jehovah’s supremacy over the nations?

¹¹ The event that Daniel saw in vision harmonizes with something he had stated earlier. “The God of heaven,” Daniel said, “removes kings and sets up kings.” He also wrote that “the Most High is Ruler in the kingdom of mankind and that he gives it to whomever he wants.” (Dan. 2:19-21; 4:17) Have there been occasions when Jehovah removed or set up rulers? Absolutely!

12. Give an example of how Jehovah removed kings from their thrones in times past. (See picture.)

¹² Jehovah has clearly demonstrated his supremacy over “the superior authorities.” Consider three examples. Pharaoh of Egypt enslaved Jehovah’s people and repeatedly refused to release them. But God set them free and drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea. (Ex. 14:26-28; Ps. 136:15) King Belshazzar of Babylon held a feast and “exalted [himself] against the Lord of the heavens” and “praised gods of silver and gold” instead of Jehovah. (Dan. 5:22, 23) But God humbled that arrogant man. On “that very night,” Belshazzar was killed and his kingdom was given into the hands of the Medes and the Persians. (Dan. 5:28, 30, 31) King Herod Agrippa I of Palestine had the apostle James killed and then imprisoned the apostle Peter, with the intention of doing away with him. But Jehovah prevented Herod from carrying out his plan. “The angel of Jehovah struck him,” and he died.​—Acts 12:1-5, 21-23.

13. Give an example of how Jehovah defeated entire coalitions of rulers.

¹³ Jehovah has also shown his supremacy over entire coalitions of rulers. He fought for Israel, enabling them to destroy an alliance of 31 Canaanite kings and to conquer large portions of the Promised Land. (Josh. 11:4-6, 20; 12:1, 7, 24) Jehovah also dealt a crushing blow to King Ben-hadad and 32 other Syrian rulers who battled with Israel.​—1 Ki. 20:1, 26-29.

14-15. (a) What did Kings Nebuchadnezzar and Darius say about Jehovah’s sovereignty? (b) What did the psalmist say about Jehovah and His nation?

¹⁴ Time and again, Jehovah has proved to be the Supreme One! When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon boasted about ‘his own strength and might and the glory of his majesty’ instead of humbly acknowledging Jehovah as the One deserving of praise, God struck him with insanity. After he recovered, Nebuchadnezzar “praised the Most High” and acknowledged that “[Jehovah’s] rulership is an everlasting rulership.” He added: “There is no one who can hinder him.” (Dan. 4:30, 33-35) After Daniel’s integrity to God was tested and Jehovah rescued him from the lions’ pit, King Darius decreed: “People are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed, and his sovereignty is eternal.”​—Dan. 6:7-10, 19-22, 26, 27, ftn.

¹⁵ The psalmist observed: “Jehovah has frustrated the schemes of the nations; he has thwarted the plans of the peoples.” He added: “Happy is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people he has chosen as his own possession.” (Ps. 33:10, 12) What good reason, indeed, we have to keep our integrity to Jehovah!

16. Of what can we be confident regarding the “great tribulation,” and why? (See picture.)

¹⁶ We have read what Jehovah has done in the past. What, then, may we expect in the near future? We can be confident that Jehovah will rescue his loyal servants during the coming “great tribulation.” (Matt. 24:21; Dan. 12:1) He will do this when a coalition of nations, known as Gog of Magog, makes its vicious, worldwide assault on those who are faithful to Jehovah. Even if that coalition includes all 193 members of the United Nations, it will be no match for the Supreme One and his heavenly forces! Jehovah promises: “I will certainly magnify myself and sanctify myself and make myself known before the eyes of many nations; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.”​—Ezek. 38:14-16, 23; Ps. 46:10.

17. What future does the Bible predict for the kings of the earth and for those who keep integrity to Jehovah?

¹⁷ Gog’s assault will trigger Jehovah’s final showdown at Armageddon when He destroys “the kings of the entire inhabited earth.” (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:19-21) In contrast, “only the upright will reside in the earth, and the one who keeps integrity will remain in it.”​—Prov. 2:21, ftn.

18. What have many true Christians been willing to do, and why? (Daniel 3:28)

¹⁸ Over the centuries, many true Christians have risked their freedom and even their lives out of love for Jehovah as their Sovereign Ruler. They are integrity-keepers, who have resolve like that of the three Hebrews whose lives were spared in the fiery furnace for remaining faithful to the Supreme One.​—Read Daniel 3:28.

19. On what basis will Jehovah judge his people, and what does this require of us now?

¹⁹ The psalmist David wrote about the importance of keeping integrity to God: “Jehovah will pass sentence on the peoples. Judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity.” (Ps. 7:8) Again, David wrote: “May integrity and uprightness safeguard me.” (Ps. 25:21) The best way to live is to remain faithful to Jehovah, maintaining our loyalty to him no matter what comes our way! Then we will feel the same as did the psalmist who wrote: “Happy are those who keep integrity . . . , who walk in the law of Jehovah.”​—Ps. 119:1, ftn.