The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

nation, and his tongue as a devouring fire . . . Forthrough the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian bebeaten down, which smote with a rod . . . for Tophet[the valley of Hinnom or Gehenna] is ordained of old ;yea for the king it is prepared; he hath made itdeep and large: the pile thereof is Are and muchwood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone,doth kindle it."Just as the valley of Gehenna, which runs along thesouth side of Jerusalem, is used in the Scriptures as asymbol of the second death from which there will notbe a resurrection, so the valley of Jehoshaphat orKcdron, which runs along the east side of the city, isued as a symbol of the first or Adamic death, fromwhich a resurrection is assured because of the ransomsacrificeof Jesus Christ. The Jews, and also theMohammedans, greatly desire to be buried in thisvalley, for they believe that the resurrection and Analjudgment will take place here (see Joel 3:1, 2, 1'~-14).The valleyl,of Jehoshaphat is probably the " valley ofdry bones referred to by Ezekiel (chapter 37).The story of the trial of the prophets of Baal byElijah (I Kings 18:17-40) indicates how firmly establishedthe worship of Baal was at that time in Israel.Eltjah came boldly forward and cried: How lonlghalt ye between two opinions? If Jehovah is God,follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The testproposed by Elijah as to who was the true God,Jehovah, or Baal, was to be an answer by Are ; and the -people agreed that this would be a proper test becauseBaal was the sun or Are-god, and what could be morereasonable than to expect an answer by Are fromhim?The test vindicated the name of Jehovah, and the 450priests of Baal were slain. Elijah's fearless action inthus ridding the land of Baal-worshippers was one ofL,, , ,38