Here is an original Rare book entitled
Comfort for the Jews published in 1925 by
Watchtower. It is 128 pages long and was written
during the period when it was thought that Bible
prophecies concerning restoration applied to
natural Jews instead of Spiritual Israel. This
book is very hard to find!
*** w66 2/15 pp. 117-118 Identifying the
Present-Day Beneficiaries ***
At that time Bible Students thought that the
new covenant as foretold in Jeremiah 31:31-34
did not apply to the 144,000 spiritual
Israelites but was to be made with the natural
Jews after the battle of Armageddon. Lectures
were given to large public audiences on “Jews
Returning to Palestine,” and in October of 1925
the book Comfort for the Jews was
published. Under the subheading “The New
Covenant,” pages 97-103 discussed this covenant
and reserved it for the natural Jews regathered
to Palestine. The third paragraph from the end
of the book said: “The day of jubilee is come;
the good news must be given to the people of
Israel and then to all the peoples of the
earth.—See Psalm 89:15.”
*** jv chap. 10 p. 141 Growing in Accurate
Knowledge of the Truth ***
Would God Restore the Jews to Palestine? The
Bible Students were well aware of the many
prophecies of restoration that were delivered to
ancient Israel by God’s prophets. (Jer. 30:18;
31:8-10; Amos 9:14, 15; Rom. 11:25, 26) Down
till 1932, they understood these to apply
specifically to the natural Jews. Thus, they
believed that God would show Israel favor again,
gradually restoring the Jews to Palestine,
opening their eyes to the truth regarding Jesus
as Ransomer and Messianic King, and using them
as an agency for extending blessings to all
nations. With this understanding, Brother
Russell spoke to large Jewish audiences in New
York as well as in Europe on the subject
“Zionism in Prophecy,” and Brother Rutherford,
in 1925, wrote the book Comfort for the Jews.
But it gradually became evident that what was
taking place in Palestine with regard to the
Jews was not the fulfillment of Jehovah’s grand
restoration prophecies. Desolation came on
first-century Jerusalem because the Jews had
rejected God’s Son, the Messiah, the one sent in
Jehovah’s name. (Dan. 9:25-27; Matt. 23:38, 39)
It was becoming increasingly obvious that as a
people they had not changed their attitude.
There was no repentance over the wrongful act
committed by their forefathers. The return of
some to Palestine was not motivated by any love
for God or desire for his name to be magnified
by fulfillment of his Word. This was clearly
explained in the second volume of Vindication,
which was published by the Watch Tower Bible and
Tract Society in 1932. The correctness of this
position was confirmed in 1949, when the State
of Israel, then recently formed as a nation and
as a homeland for the Jews, became a member of
the United Nations, thus showing that its trust
was not in Jehovah but in the political nations
of the world.