ORIGHO 25

“Mo Gbe Ẹjọ Mi Ni Ọgua Gbẹrẹ Ọlaja Rom!”

LU U

Pọl mu ọrọnrọn ewe ṣi ni ubara sisoro gbẹ ọrọnfọ we

Ti a gba kuri iwe Uṣe 25:1–26:32

1, 2. (a) Ukalẹ bokọ wun Pọl gha? (b) Ubirọ bokọ wun ẹnẹ wa birọ ni ubara ẹjọ ti Pọl gbe ni ọgua gbẹrẹ Ọlaja Rom?

Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

² Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

Mo Soro ni “Ẹguari Ọlaja Rom” (Uṣe 25:1-12)

3, 4. (a) Nikọ ira Ju ghaan teri ro gin di a gbe Pọl wa ni Jerusalẹm, kẹnrẹn bokọ uku te se wun origho bọghọ? (b) Bokọ Jihova te mu utiẹyin gbẹ aghan ọmẹnrẹn ro ni onuwe ṣiṣi biri won ṣe gbẹ Pọl?

³ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

⁴ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

5. Nikọ Fẹstọs ṣe ti won gba biri Pọl fọ ni ọṣọgua?

⁵ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

6, 7. Nikọ re ṣe ti Pọl gba gbe ẹjọ ro ni ọgua gbẹrẹ Ọlaja Rom, kẹnrẹn nikọ ẹnẹ kọ gbẹ kuri ewe ro?

⁶ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

⁷ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

We appeal unfavorable legal decisions

“Etin Mi Ee Kan” (Uṣe 25:13–26:23)

8, 9. Nikọ Ọlaja Agripa teri ro wa ni Sisaria?

⁸ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

APPEALING ON BEHALF OF TRUE WORSHIP IN MODERN TIMES

Jehovah’s Witnesses have at times appealed to high courts in hopes of removing obstacles to the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom. Here are two examples.

On March 28, 1938, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state court decisions and exonerated a group of Witnesses who had been arrested for distributing Bible literature in Griffin, Georgia, U.S.A. This was the first of many appeals made to that high court regarding the right of the Witnesses to preach the good news. a

Another case involved a Witness in Greece named Minos Kokkinakis. Over a period of 48 years, he was arrested more than 60 times for “proselytism.” On 18 occasions, he faced prosecution in court. He spent years in prison and in exile on remote islands in the Aegean Sea. After his last conviction in 1986, Brother Kokkinakis lost his appeals to the higher courts of Greece. He then sought relief through the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). On May 25, 1993, that Court ruled that Greece had violated Brother Kokkinakis’ freedom of religion.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have appealed to the ECHR for relief in dozens of cases, prevailing in most of them. No other organization, religious or otherwise, has had such success in defending basic human rights before the ECHR.

Do others benefit from the legal victories of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Scholar Charles C. Haynes wrote: “We all owe the Jehovah’s Witnesses a debt of gratitude. No matter how many times they’re insulted, run out of town or even physically attacked, they keep on fighting for their (and thus our) freedom of religion. And when they win, we all win.”

a See the account of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding free speech, which was published in Awake! January 8, 2003, pages 3-11.

⁹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

10, 11. Bokọ Pọl te mu ọghọ gbẹ Ọlaja Agripa, kẹnrẹn nikọ ni ubara urun ti o te ṣi ni ẹye Pọl owun won gin gbẹ ọlaja we?

¹⁰ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹¹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

12, 13. (a) Bokọ Pọl te wewe biri won te wa da Olele Kraist? (b) Bokọ Pọl te winọrọn “gbesin” Jisọs?

¹² Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹³ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

14, 15. Nikọ Pọl gin ni ubara urun ti won te yidẹ ni ẹye ro?

¹⁴ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

¹⁵ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

16. Bokọ ẹnẹ te nemi yẹn Pọl ni ẹnẹ ma winọrọn biri aghan ọgbẹjọ biri ọlaṣẹ fọ ni ubara urun ti ẹnẹ kpe ni ọrọnfọ?

¹⁶ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

“Wo Nemi Yi Mi Dẹ Gba Da Olele Kraist Gege” (Uṣe 26:24-32)

17. Nikọ Fẹstọs ṣe ni ubara urun ti Pọl gin, kẹnrẹn uṣe eju ọkan bokọ wo ka ri ni onuwe?

¹⁷ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

18. Bokọ Pọl te gba iwanran ni urun ti Fẹstọs gin, kẹnrẹn nikọ wun Agripa ro ni ẹyin ẹrẹn?

¹⁸ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

19. Ero bokọ wun Fẹstọs biri Agripa da ni ubara Pọl?

¹⁹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

20. Nikọ re lẹghẹ ẹ san gin Pọl soro ni ọguaju ọlaja meeji ghaan gba gbe ara ro?

²⁰ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

21. Ẹnẹ ma ka wowo iyẹn rire we gba ṣe are-maa lesin, ọsan bokọ re nemi lẹfun ni inọrọn?

²¹ Rọ ọ ni owun-aja Ighereje

ROMAN PROCURATOR PORCIUS FESTUS

Our only firsthand information about Porcius Festus comes from Acts of Apostles and the writings of Flavius Josephus. Festus succeeded Felix as procurator of Judea in about 58 C.E. and evidently died in office after governing for just two or three years.

For the most part, Festus appears to have been a prudent and capable procurator, in contrast with his predecessor, Felix, and his successor, Albinus. At the beginning of Festus’ time in office, Judea was plagued by bandits. According to Josephus, “Festus . . . made it his business to correct those that made disturbances in the country. So he caught the greatest part of the robbers, and destroyed a great many of them.” During his tenure, the Jews built a wall to prevent King Agrippa from observing what took place in the temple area. Festus initially ordered them to dismantle it. At the Jews’ request, however, he later allowed them to present the matter to the Roman Emperor Nero.

Festus appears to have taken a firm stand against criminals and insurgents. But in his desire to maintain good relations with the Jews, he was willing to set aside justice—at least in his dealings with the apostle Paul.

KING HEROD AGRIPPA II

The Agrippa referred to in Acts chapter 25 was King Herod Agrippa II, great-grandson of Herod the Great and son of the Herod who had attacked the Jerusalem congregation 14 years earlier. (Acts 12:1) Agrippa was the last of the Herodian princes.

At the death of his father in 44 C.E., 17-year-old Agrippa was in Rome, where he was being educated at the court of Roman Emperor Claudius. The emperor’s advisers considered Agrippa too young to inherit his father’s domain; thus, a Roman governor was appointed instead. Even so, according to Flavius Josephus, while Agrippa was still in Rome, he intervened for the Jews and represented their interests.

In about 50 C.E., Claudius assigned Agrippa kingship over Chalcis and in 53 C.E., over Ituraea, Trachonitis, and Abilene. Agrippa was also given oversight of Jerusalem’s temple, with authority to appoint the Jewish high priests. Claudius’ successor Nero extended Agrippa’s realm to include parts of Galilee and Perea. At the time of his meeting Paul, Agrippa was in Caesarea with his sister Bernice, who had left her husband, the king of Cilicia.—Acts 25:13.

In 66 C.E., when Agrippa’s efforts failed to calm the Jewish rebellion against Rome, he himself became a target of the rebels, and he was left no choice but to join the Romans. After the Jewish revolt was crushed, a new emperor, Vespasian, gave Agrippa further territories as a reward.

IWE BIRI BROṢỌ