What Does Paradise Mean to You?

HOW would you enjoy living in paradise​—right now? ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ you say. ‘There’s no paradise on this earth!’ Or is there? Well, that really depends on what is meant by “paradise.”

What does that word mean to you? The beauties of the natural scenery? Majestic rivers and peaceful valleys uncontaminated by deadly pollution? Animals​—lions, tigers, lambs and deer—​all living at peace with one another? True, it would be most delightful, to say the least, to live in such paradisaic conditions. But the sad truth is that, while there are still some very lovely spots on this earth, we are far from living in paradise. Or are we?

Consider this: “Paradise” in the fullest sense of the word involves far more than just trees and plants​—beautiful surroundings. It takes more than lovely scenery to make life enjoyable. Much more. To illustrate: Suppose you could pick any spot on earth to live​—the most beautiful part of the open country or the loveliest tropical island. Could you really be happy if your neighbors were hateful, mean, selfish, spiteful, with no respect for your person or property? Hardly! Such people could make your life miserable no matter how pleasant your surroundings!

Logically, then, “paradise” is dependent not just on physical surroundings but also on people. For when you think of paradise, do you not also think of happy people, with peaceful dispositions, getting along with one another in love? Therefore, before a beauty spot on earth can be called a paradise in the fullest sense, the people who are going to live in it must develop Godlike personalities.

The Bible gives indication of such a change in the dispositions of people, describing the spiritual condition of people​—people who make over their personalities and their lives for the better. But perhaps you are wondering: ‘Does such a figurative paradise really exist today? If so, where?’

Can You Enjoy a Paradise Now?

A PARADISE exists on earth today. It is extending farther and farther and is being enjoyed by millions of people. You, too, can be a part of it. Is this some idealistic dream? Not at all, for we are not speaking about a natural, earthly paradise but a spiritual one.a

“What do you mean by a spiritual paradise?” you ask. Put simply: An organization of Christians who have made over their personalities to conform to God’s requirements and who are united in his true worship may be said to be in a spiritual paradise.

Where does the Bible give indication of a wonderful spiritual situation like this? What evidence is there that such a condition exists today?

The Wolf With the Lamb

There are a number of Bible prophecies that describe conditions that call to mind a paradise. A delightful description of such a paradise is found at Isaiah 11:6-9, which reads as follows:

“The wolf will actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them. And the cow and the bear themselves will feed; together their young ones will lie down. And even the lion will eat straw just like the bull. And the sucking child will certainly play upon the hole of the cobra; and upon the light aperture of a poisonous snake will a weaned child actually put his own hand. They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”

Just imagine how pleasant it would be to live in tranquil surroundings like those described here, with total peace existing in such a marvelous way! This would restore the Paradise conditions that existed in the garden of Eden when animals and humans lived in that garden in perfect harmony. (Genesis 1:30; 2:8, 9, 19, 20) True Christians eagerly look forward to enjoying these grand blessings on an earth-wide scale in the future under the rule of the Messianic King, Jesus Christ. His rulership is described in Isaiah 11:1-5, the verses immediately preceding the ones quoted above. But are these sure-to-be-realized future blessings under the Kingdom rule the only fulfillment of Isaiah’s words?

No, this prophecy might also be said to portray a transformation of human personalities. In what way? Answers 18th-century Bible scholar Matthew Henry: “Men of the most fierce and furious dispositions, who used to bite and devour all about them, shall have their temper so strangely altered . . . that they shall live in love even with the weakest, and such as formerly they would have made an easy prey of.”

And another Bible scholar, Joseph Benson, wrote during the last century: “Men of fierce, cruel, and ungovernable dispositions shall be so transformed by the preaching of the gospel, and by the grace of Christ, that they shall become most humble, gentle, and tractable, and shall no more vex and persecute those meek and poor ones, mentioned [in] Isa 11 verse 4.”

Imagine that! Humans discarding former aggressive traits and putting on, instead, personalities marked by peacefulness and love! Not that such persons lose their identity. Isaiah does not say that the wolf becomes a lamb, but, rather, that its disposition changes so that it dwells peacefully with the lamb.

Similarly, in keeping with Isaiah’s words, humans with beastlike traits​—who perhaps killed, exploited or otherwise victimized their fellowman—​make over their personalities, getting along with other people who are peacefully disposed like the lamb. When such a situation comes to exist among people, the grand consequences may be spoken of as a spiritual paradise. But are Isaiah’s words really being fulfilled today?

A Spiritual Paradise​—When?

A corresponding prophecy in the book of Isaiah helps us to locate the time when this marvelous spiritual condition begins to be realized. We read at Isaiah 2:2-4:

“It must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it all the nations must stream. . . . And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”

Notice that a similar transformation is described​—people becoming peacefully disposed, ‘beating swords into plowshares.’ When would this happen? “In the final part of the days,” answers the Bible prophecy. As has been shown many times in The Watchtower, this system of things has been in the last days since the year 1914. Therefore, we must now be living in the time when Isaiah 11:6-9 is having an application. A grand spiritual situation must now exist! ‘But where?’ you ask.

Taming the Personality

The taming of personalities, as shown by Isaiah’s prophecy, is being repeated many times over among sincere persons who, upon learning Bible truth, have ‘made their minds over’ and ‘put on a new personality.’ (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23, 24) Consider the following example:

David is a big, brawny young man who grew up on a farm in Minnesota, in the United States. “My father always told me to settle my arguments with my fists,” explains David, who later became an amateur boxer. “I can always remember him saying, ‘Never start a fight, but be sure you finish it.’ As a result, it was fight first, never ask questions. I actually enjoyed doing bodily harm to others.”

For instance, one night a man pulling out of a parking spot blocked David’s car. He stubbornly refused to move. “I was so mad I wanted to kill him,” says David. So he dragged the man from his car and beat him to the point of unconsciousness. Could a person with such a violent disposition really change his ways?

One day, while he was unemployed, David was contacted by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Their message about a coming righteous New Order of things touched his heart. “I was convinced from the start that they had the truth,” says David. As he applied in his life what he was learning, David started making changes​—he quit smoking and stopped taking drugs. He was even making progress in taming his violent disposition.

But several months later David had a disappointing setback. He was working on a construction job. One morning a co-worker started harassing him. David warned him to stop, but he did not. The result? David explains: “I hit him so hard I thought I had killed him. He was unconscious for about 20 minutes. I felt really ashamed of myself.”

However, David slowly progressed in making over his personality. A real test came several years after he became a baptized witness of Jehovah. He was out preaching from house to house. At one door a man came out and started swearing at him. The man then grabbed hold of David’s coat and threw him off the steps. Without saying a word David started walking to the next house. Not satisfied with this, the man chased after him and, picking up a baseball bat, hit David across his lower back. Yet this formerly violent young man did not retaliate! He just walked away. What a remarkable change in personality! This “wolf” is now getting along peacefully with “lambs,” serving as an elder and as a full-time minister in the congregation.

Often people are so impressed upon seeing such changes in others that they, too, are prompted to change their lives for the better. Thus, another young man, also named David, after meeting an old friend whom he had not seen in a while, said: “He was different. He no longer had long hair, used abusive speech or cared to get involved in drugs. He had completely cleaned up his life. This shocked me so much that I had to find out what caused the change.” David’s friend had become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. And so did David, after first cleaning up his own life.

The above experiences can be multiplied over and over again in the 45,000 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide. Perhaps you know of one or more of them who have made some remarkable changes in their lives.

When observers attend conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they often speak about the peaceful atmosphere. A columnist for the Journal de Montréal wrote: “I am not a Witness. But I am a witness to the fact that the Witnesses witness to efficiency and proper behaviour. . . . If they were the only people in the world, we would not at night have to bolt our doors shut and put on the burglar alarm.”

In Mexico two villages were feuding. There were frequent slayings. The police could do nothing to stop it. Then, one family started to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Other families sold their weapons, using the money to buy Bibles, so that they, too, could study. Soon, a spiritual paradise of true peace and unity was established among those villagers.

But it is not that Jehovah’s Witnesses take the credit for achieving the condition pointed to at Isaiah 11:6-9. No, there is only one force in the universe that can cause people to make such drastic changes in their disposition. That force is God’s holy spirit. (Galatians 5:22, 23) And God gladly grants that spirit to persons who sincerely seek it and conform to his requirements.​—Luke 11:9-13; Acts 5:32.

Neither do Jehovah’s Witnesses claim perfection. No, they have problems like everybody else. But they have a sound guide for working out their problems​—the Bible. (Psalm 119:105) They try hard to apply its principles in their lives, although at times they fall short. (Romans 3:23) You see, deeply ingrained personality traits are not easily uprooted. Yet, with the help of God’s spirit, even people with very hostile personalities can make progress in taming undesirable traits.

Nevertheless, one thing is certain: Rather than the strife, disunity and immorality that you see in the world today, love, peace of mind and unity, evident among Jehovah’s Witnesses earth wide, are being enjoyed in the spiritual paradise. This provides a foretaste of how peacefully humans will live together on this earth in a physical Paradise during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ Jesus.​—Luke 23:43.

Why not learn more about paradise? See why Jehovah’s Witnesses enjoy such comparative peace, contentment, happiness and unity​—things you no doubt readily associate with paradise. Learn how you, too, can enjoy such a paradise right now!

[Footnotes]

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PROPHECIES OF PARADISE

A number of prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures regarding paradise have already had fulfillment in our day. Consider as an example the prophecy at Isaiah chapter 35, which foretells that ‘the desert plain will blossom as the saffron.’ This prophecy proved true on a small scale when exiled Jews returned from Babylon in 537 B.C.E. Pleased with their return to his worship, God caused their desolate homeland, Judah, to blossom once again and produce abundantly so that it became a miniature paradise.

The prophecy of Isaiah 35 evidently also has a spiritual fulfillment. How do we know? For one thing, in Isa 35 verses 5 and 6 it promised that the blind, the deaf, the lame and the speechless would all be healed. There is no indication that those returning Jews in 537 B.C.E. were literally healed of such maladies. Evidently this is to be understood in a spiritual sense​—their eyes, for instance, were opened to see the light of freedom in their homeland. Likewise a spiritual paradise is now flourishing among worshipers of Jehovah God, but this time it is earth wide.

In the near future after God has destroyed all wickedness on our globe, a surviving “great crowd” and the resurrected dead will experience a very real physical healing. On the basis of his ransom sacrifice, Christ Jesus will bring obedient ones to human perfection to live forever in the restored earthly Paradise. Thus what Isaiah 35 mentions will be extended very soon to embrace the entire earth as our globe is transformed into a peaceful parklike garden in which the literal Paradise becomes a reality.​—Isaiah 25:6-8; Revelation 7:9; 21:3, 4.

Millions Now Alive Will Never Die Off Our Earth

“I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; and everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.”​—JOHN 11:25, 26.

1. For a person never to die off our earth would mean what for that favored person?

FOR a person never to die at all would mean that such a favored individual would stay living as a mortal man or woman here on earth for all time! That is a reasonable conclusion to draw, is it not? And is it not in agreement with the above words of Jesus Christ spoken over 19 centuries ago? Yes!

2, 3. (a) What hope do the Hebrew Scriptures hold out? (b) What generally is the outlook of the religious systems of Christendom?

² The sacred Hebrew Scriptures, from Genesis to Malachi, hold out no heavenly hope, and so the Jews who held strictly to these Scriptures had no heavenly hope or desire. But the Hebrew Scriptures do hold out the hope of everlasting life. (Psalm 37:29; Job 14:13-15) To a natural circumcised Jew everlasting life on earth under the Kingdom of the promised Messiah was a normal hope and expectation.

³ Generally, however, that is not the outlook of the religious systems of Christendom. They believe and teach that we humans have an immortal soul inside our mortal body and that at our unavoidable death this soul is liberated and escapes into the invisible spirit realm. There it undergoes judgment and is assigned by God either to a heaven of bliss or to a place of punishment in endless torment if the person was not a faithful Christian. And the general view of Christendom is that the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars are to be burned up, destroyed, in a universal conflagration.

4. Why would never dying off our earth not seem like good news to many people who have in mind its present state?

⁴ According to such a religious view, it could never come true that “millions now alive will never die off our earth.” Yet, many people may ask us, Who would want to live on a planet plagued, as it now is, with famines, pestilences, earthquakes, wars, international and racial hatreds, along with the stockpiling of nuclear weapons of war that threaten all human existence on earth? If such horrendous things were to afflict our earth endlessly, most reasonable people would want to get away from it​—even by death!

Original Purpose for Earth

5. What was the state of the earth when God put mankind upon it, and how does God feel toward mankind?

⁵ However, at the very start of human existence, the Creator gave the earth to humankind as their eternal home. Then it was indeed a ‘good earth.’ The Bible’s account of creation tells us that, after the Creator had prepared earthly conditions for the first man and woman and placed them upon the earth, “God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) If it had not appeared very good to the Creator, he would never have placed his human children here in the first place. The very writer of the creation account says of God the Creator: “The Rock, perfect is his activity, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness, with whom there is no injustice.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) Almighty God has no record of work, or activity, for which to apologize to anyone. As a good Father, he loved mankind at the start. He still loves mankind.​—John 3:16.

6, 7. Why can we be confident that God’s creation of the earth and man upon it will not prove to be a vain project?

⁶ Happily God’s creating of earth and of man upon it is not to be a vain project. Setting a God-honoring goal before the first man and woman, God authorized Adam and Eve to be fruitful with perfect children and to fill the earth with them. They were also instructed to subdue the earth to a global Paradise and to exercise dominion over all the subhuman creatures on the earth. (Genesis 1:28) Sadly, after more than 6,000 years of human existence and experience, mankind has failed to do what it was authorized to do. Worse still, humans now threaten to wipe themselves out of existence most violently by their own hateful inventions. But mankind’s making itself, for the most part, a failure has not made God the Creator a failure.

⁷ The original purpose of God respecting our earth will be fulfilled. We have God’s assurance for that! (Isaiah 55:11) At Ecclesiastes 1:4 the Bible says: “A generation is going, and a generation is coming; but the earth is standing even to time indefinite.” And at Isaiah 45:18 God the Creator refers to himself as “the Former of the earth and the Maker of it,” and adds: “He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited: ‘I am Jehovah, and there is no one else.’” And “inhabited” it will yet be in God’s due time with a perfect race of humankind, favored with the gift of eternal life!

8, 9. (a) Why is God’s purpose for the earth to be inhabited not contradicted by the fact that the present heavens and earth are to pass away? (b) What are the “new heavens” and the “new earth,” and what is the Bible promise respecting them?

⁸ The above reassuring statement of God’s purpose is not contradicted by the apostle Peter when he warns us that the heavens and the earth that are now will pass away. No, for right after reminding us of this future eventuality, now so close at hand, he goes on to say: “But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Peter 3:10-13) God’s promise of such new heavens and new earth is preserved in Isaiah 65:17. As to how long these will last, we are told in Isaiah 66:22: “‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making are standing before me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘so the offspring of you people and the name of you people will keep standing.’”

⁹ Ah, yes, the new heavens and the new earth will keep standing before Jehovah; they will stand firm, they will endure, they will continue! The “new earth” is made up of a righteous human race that will inhabit the cleansed earthly globe, which the Creator formed “even to be inhabited.” (Isaiah 45:18) The “new heavens,” which are new righteous heavenly powers, are to be in charge of the cleansed earth and its righteous inhabitants. Certainly, then, Jehovah God will not have created our marvelous earthly globe “simply for nothing.” It will yet vindicate him as Maker!

Surviving Into the “New Earth”

10, 11. (a) In their predictions, what do students of world affairs not take into account, and so what can we survive, and into what? (b) What can we learn from the survival of Noah and his family through the Flood?

¹⁰ The picture that students of world affairs generally paint leaves no hope of human survival on earth into a new and better system of things. Thankfully their thoughts are not the thoughts of earth’s Creator, neither are their ways his ways. (Isaiah 55:8-11) Their thoughts are not based on what happened on the earth long ago in the days of the man Noah. All the nuclear bombs and other high explosives of the nations cannot match in power the global Deluge that then poured down from the skies to put an end to that old world of violence. Mercifully Jehovah God the Creator made provisions for the human family to survive the disastrous end of the world at that time so as to continue on earth.

¹¹ As regards the human survivors of that ancient world, there were eight of them, namely, Noah and his wife, and their three sons and their wives. Through these eight human souls our race was given a new start, in righteousness. (2 Peter 2:5; 3:6) This serves as a pattern for the near future. (Genesis 9:1-7) What it shows is that, just as Noah and his family survived the end of the world in their day, so we can survive the end of this world into the new system of things that is so near at hand!

12, 13. (a) Why do millions today not fear the end of this old system of things? (b) Concerning what does the prayer taught us by the Son of man assure us about our literal earth?

¹² Millions today on earth appreciate that the “new heavens” and the “new earth” are immediately ahead of us. They do not fear the end of the present old world, even though it is to take place as if in a fire enveloping both heaven and earth. They know from the reliable Word of the Creator of all things that our literal earth will survive just as it did at the finish of the first world in the days of their forefather Noah. The inspired psalmist made this comment about our earth: “As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.”​—Psalm 115:16.

¹³ “The sons of men” were made, not for heaven, but for the earth, where the Creator authorized them to dwell. Down here on earth the Great Teacher who called himself “the Son of man” taught his disciples to pray to the Creator, saying: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matthew 24:37; 6:9, 10) For that prayer to be answered by the “Hearer of prayer” through the coming of his heavenly Kingdom, our literal earth must survive the approaching end of the present doomed system of things. (Psalm 65:2) Upon it, surviving mankind will do the heavenly Father’s will just as the angels in heaven loyally do it.

14. Who will start off the “new earth,” and how will that new earth be enlarged?

¹⁴ What a marvelous prospect thus lies before doers of God’s will on the cleansed earth! The human survivors of this present world, who look forward to endless service of the heavenly Father on a Paradise earth, will start off the “new earth” under the Messianic “new heavens.” In time this promised “new earth” will be enlarged by the resurrection of the ransomed dead of mankind who will be taught righteousness and who will be obliged to do what is righteous. (John 5:28, 29) In view of this, what shall we prospective survivors of the end of this world do?

15, 16. (a) What did the apostle Peter show to be the proper course for prospective survivors of the end of this world? (b) What sort of person was Noah during the pre-Flood days, with what recompense to him and his family?

¹⁵ That is a good question. More than 1,900 years ago the apostle Peter showed what should be the answer to that question, when he wrote: “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah, through which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved and the elements being intensely hot will melt!” (2 Peter 3:11, 12) If it was fitting for the inspired apostle to write those words 1,900 years ago during the heyday of the Roman Empire, how much more appropriate it is for those words of exhortation to be addressed to Jehovah’s Witnesses during these final days of this system of things. This “presence of the day of Jehovah” will culminate in the dissolving, as if in a melting pot, of the figurative “earth and the works in it.”​—2 Peter 3:10.

¹⁶ In the closing days before the end of the pre-Flood world, “Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with the true God.” (Genesis 6:9) Noah’s walking that way as the head of his small family worked for their being kept alive by the God with whom he walked. After Noah and his family came out alive from the ark of salvation, they were used to start a new system of things in righteousness under the blessing of Jehovah God. Then God made a covenant with these Flood survivors never again to bring a global Flood upon the race of mankind on earth.​—Genesis 9:8-17.

17. To what extent was Noah given warning, and what situation corresponds with that nowadays?

¹⁷ Noah was given ample warning of the coming downpour of water sufficient to flood the whole earth. No less have Jehovah’s Witnesses of this 20th century been given warning of this world’s end. This warning is based on the inspired Bible and on the fulfillment of its prophecies that make clear that we are getting close to the termination of this violent system of things.

Welcoming the Dead Back to Earth

18. At what forevisioning of the resurrection of the earthly dead as described in the Revelation do millions of Witnesses rejoice today?

¹⁸ Today millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses who are ‘walking with God’ rejoice at what is forevisioned at Revelation 20:11-14, where we read: “And I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds. And death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire.”

19. To an earth in what state will the resurrected human dead come back, and what treatment will be theirs with which to start off life anew?

¹⁹ Those resurrected from the dead according to that Bible prophecy will not come back to a depopulated earth. Millions of dedicated, baptized witnesses of Jehovah expect to survive the fleeing away of the figurative old heavens and earth to welcome the resurrected dead into an earth under cultivation for a worldwide Paradise. (Luke 23:43) The new system of things will then be well under way. Lovingly the survivors of the end of this old world will have made ample preparations for the return of the ransomed human dead.

20. What instructions given by Jesus after he raised Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter from the dead indicate what the survivors will have to do in behalf of the resurrected billions?

²⁰ Those millions of survivors will recall how, right after Jesus raised his beloved friend Lazarus from that tomb there in Bethany, near Jerusalem, he commanded those witnessing this miracle to loose Lazarus from his burial wrappings. Similarly, when Jesus raised the daughter of the Jewish ruler Jairus from the dead, he “ordered something to be given her to eat.” (Luke 8:55; John 11:44) Doubtless instructions from heaven will be given to the survivors to make due provisions for the return of the billions of the human dead.

21, 22. (a) By what program will the survivors help the resurrected dead to avail themselves fully of the benefits of Christ’s death? (b) Why will the “new earth” be righteous from its very start?

²¹ There will also be a great educational work to be done. This is in line with the divine purpose for the returning dead humans to take full advantage of the benefits of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Only by doing this will they be authorized to live on an Edenic earth, in human perfection. Already the “great crowd” of the prospective survivors of the “great tribulation” are preparing themselves to share in that wonderful educational program. They personally have availed themselves of the benefits of the sacrificial death of “the Lamb of God,” Jesus Christ. (John 1:29) This is what is shown in Revelation 7:9-14 where, among other things, it is stated concerning them: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” So, because of receiving the benefits of Christ’s ransom, they are pictured as “dressed in white robes.”

²² Of this “great crowd,” it is also said in a figurative sense: “They are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple.” (Revelation 7:15) During the “great tribulation” just ahead, their white dress will not be taken away from them, but they will unswervingly keep on rendering sacred service to Jehovah God under his protection. (Revelation 7:17) They, in their symbolic “white robes,” will be the initial part of the “new earth,” so that in it, from its very start, “righteousness is to dwell.”​—2 Peter 3:13.

Questions for Review

□ What view of life in the future have people past and present held?

□ What is God’s purpose for the earth, and how does the Bible prove this?

□ How does what happened to Noah and his family give us confidence that millions now alive will never die?

□ Who will welcome back the dead, and what provisions will be made for them?

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Noah and his family survived the Flood. Millions will survive this world’s end

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As Lazarus was welcomed back alive, so Armageddon survivors will welcome back the dead

Millions Get Ready for Uninterrupted Life on Earth

1. (a) What words of Jesus to Martha of Bethany is it now most timely for millions to recall? (b) At what part of those words do millions now thrill, and why?

FOR millions now alive it would be most timely to call to mind the words of Jesus Christ to Martha of Bethany: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; and everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.” (John 11:25, 26) It is indeed thrilling for those millions who seek unending life in a righteous world to perceive that it is now that Jesus’ words apply when he said: “And everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.”

2. (a) While he was still on earth, for what individuals was Jesus Christ “the resurrection”? (b) In his words to Martha, to what time in particular was Jesus pointing forward, and why would he have to be “the life” even to millions alive at that time?

² Even while he was on the earth, Jesus was “the resurrection” for Lazarus and other persons he resurrected. But these words of his, spoken just before he raised Lazarus, referred particularly to the far-distant future from then. Jesus pointed forward to the time when he would become the resurrection and the life not only to his followers who would become joint heirs with him in the heavenly Kingdom but also to dead mankind who will gain eternal life on our earth under his Kingdom. Even in the case of those who would be alive on earth at the time of his Kingdom and who would not need to be resurrected from an earthly grave, Jesus would need to be “the life.” Why so? Because they would still be under condemnation to death due to their sinfulness inherited from disobedient Adam. So they would still be in a dying state.​—Romans 5:12.

3. Because of the exercise of what quality does Jesus Christ become “the life” to persons now alive, and how is this quality exercised today?

³ To people now living on earth, the reigning King Jesus Christ becomes “the life” due to the fact that they exercise faith in him, this faith being proved by works. During this “conclusion of the system of things,” these works would include taking an active part in the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy at Matthew 24:14 to preach the good news of God’s Kingdom before “the end” of the system comes. (Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:3, 4) The exercisers of faith who survive the end of the current system of things and who look forward to life in Paradise restored will never need to die at all. (1 John 2:17) They will ‘return to the days of their youth,’ yes, back to human perfection such as the first man, Adam, possessed. We have basis for believing that there are living today millions of such potential candidates for an unbroken endless life on earth.

4. (a) How does Jesus’ prophecy point to a basis for people to enjoy an unbroken endless life on earth? (b) What “flesh” will be saved into the new system of things?

⁴ Jesus provided the basis for such a hope when he gave his prophecy concerning the unparalleled time of trouble with which “the conclusion of the system of things” would end. He said: “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:21, 22) So the days of the “great tribulation” are to be cut short, and, accordingly, some human “flesh” will be saved into the new system of things. Such flesh will be mainly other than that of the “chosen ones” who will then still be on earth awaiting their glorification in the heavenly Kingdom with Jesus Christ. Upon surviving the great tribulation, such “saved” flesh will enter the new system of things under the reign of the one who will become their Eternal Father.​—Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:20, 22, 27; Revelation 17:14; Isaiah 9:6, 7.

Danger Posed by a Wild Beast

5. What was seen to be in the possession of the Lamb seated on the throne, and whose names are not written on the scroll of life?

⁵ Whose name will be found written on “the scroll of life” spoken about at Revelation 17:8? Yours? Mine? To sound out to us a timely warning, that verse says: “The wild beast that you [John] saw was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction. And when they see how the wild beast was, but is not, and yet will be present, those who dwell on the earth will wonder admiringly, but their names have not been written upon the scroll of life.”

6. (a) When did the symbolic “wild beast” descend into the abyss, and in what form did it come out? (b) What perilous course needs to be avoided?

⁶ That symbolic “wild beast” was known at first as the League of Nations. It descended into the abyss of inaction during World War II of the years 1939-45 and then ascended out of the abyss in the form of the United Nations after that war. So since 1945 a perilous situation prevails that might affect the seeker after life eternal on a Paradise earth. He may be deceived into taking a course that will disqualify him for having his name written on “the scroll of life.” Hence, we now need to exercise “the intelligence that has wisdom” in our attitude toward the symbolic “wild beast.”​—Revelation 17:9.

7. (a) What is the scarlet-colored wild beast of Revelation chapter 17 called in Revelation chapter 13? (b) In what way is “the image of the wild beast” a model of the original wild beast, and what do its seven heads represent?

⁷ This symbolic “wild beast” of Revelation chapter 17, which is described as scarlet colored, is really a copy of the original “wild beast” spoken about in Revelation chapter 13. This scarlet-colored wild beast proves to be what is called “the image of the wild beast.” (Revelation 17:3; 13:14-18) Like its model, this “image of the wild beast” has seven heads, which have reference to “seven kings.” The five symbolic “kings” that had fallen symbolized the world powers of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia and the Grecian Empire established by Alexander the Great. The sixth “king” was the Roman Empire of the apostle John’s day. The seventh “king” that was to come after John’s time has historically proved to be the Anglo-American World Power. And an eighth “king,” the scarlet-colored wild beast, as an “image” of the first wild beast, made its appearance in the first instance as the League of Nations.​—Revelation 17:9-14.

8. (a) What do “the ten horns” of the beast represent? (b) How long will “the ten horns” reign as kings with the symbolic wild beast, and what will happen to those who wonder admiringly at this beast?

⁸ As regards “the ten horns” that are upon the seven heads of the scarlet-colored wild beast, they are interpreted to mean “ten kings,” that is to say, all the political rulerships that are represented in the United Nations organization. These “kings” will enjoy worldly prestige or authority for only a short time, as it were, “one hour.” That spells also only a further brief period of life for all those who wonder admiringly at the resurrected “image of the wild beast” and support it. Such ones do not have their names written upon “the scroll of life.” So those who do not want to die off our earth will not join them in worship of “the image of the wild beast.”

9. What battle lines are now being drawn up, and what will the battle’s outcome be?

⁹ Battle lines are now being drawn up. “The ten horns” are poised for attack. Revelation 17:14 says: “These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.” This indicates that the remnant yet alive on earth of such called, chosen and faithful ones will face attack by “the ten horns.” However, these “ten horns” will be conquered by the Lamb, which means that “the image of the wild beast” will “go off into destruction.” (Revelation 17:8) The promoters, admirers and supporters of that wild beast will also suffer destruction. Their names are not found written upon “the scroll of life.”

10. What must the remnant of the called and chosen ones yet prove to be?

¹⁰ Despite their now being few in number, the yet remaining ones of the called, chosen and faithful ones are not afraid. Even these few must yet prove faithful until Christ completes his conquest over “the image of the wild beast” and the wild beast itself along with all its worshipers on earth. That will be the end of this world! But even though the world ends, the human family goes on!

Why Say “Millions Now Alive”?

11. The declaration that “Millions now alive will never die off our earth” is not based on what, but what grounds are there for expecting this?

¹¹ The eyebrow-raising declaration “Millions now alive will never die off our earth” is not based upon a mere human mathematical calculation, such as one survivor for every 1,000 of the present population of the earth. Jehovah God, the Source of all life, does not decide vital matters on such a basis as this! This was not the case during the Flood that brought the world of Noah’s day to an end. Consistently it is not so today! There are cogent Scriptural grounds for expecting “millions now alive” to survive.

12. Who in 1935 were poised to take their stand on the side of the called, chosen and faithful ones, and how did they manifest their position?

¹² Four years before World War II erupted and “the image of the wild beast” went down into the abyss of a deathlike state, the Lamb of God had yet others on earth who were poised to come over unequivocally onto his side in alignment with the remnant of the called, chosen and faithful ones. In 1935, during the memorable convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Washington, D.C., these persons definitely showed that they stood on the side of the King of kings and against “the image of the wild beast.” How so? By openly getting baptized, 840 of them, as a symbol of their unreservedly dedicating themselves to Jehovah God. They did so on the day after the conventioners listened to the speech “Great Multitude,” which was an explanation of Revelation 7:9-17. (Authorized Version) Thus they acted promptly upon the first opportunity to become part of that “great multitude” that washes its robes in the blood of the Lamb and that comes out of the “great tribulation” that God by Christ brings upon “the image of the wild beast” and all those lined up with it and its “ten horns.”

13. (a) What does the cutting short of the days of the “great tribulation” mean for the remnant of chosen ones? (b) So if the remnant of chosen ones are to survive the end of this world, what follows along with this?

¹³ That “great tribulation” is to be “cut short” for the sake of Jehovah’s elect ones, his called and chosen ones. (Matthew 24:21, 22) This means that a remnant of them are to survive the tribulation and be eyewitnesses of Jehovah’s strange act by which he will vindicate his sovereignty over heaven and earth. (Isaiah 28:21) Since on their account the days of the tribulation are to be “cut short,” it follows that some “flesh” will be saved through the end of this old world. If the chosen remnant will have Jehovah’s protection assuring their survival, no less so will the “great multitude” of dedicated, baptized and faithful ones survive under divine protection. Today the vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses are members of that “great multitude” that is to survive “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at the world setting that is called Har–Magedon, or Armageddon.​—Revelation 16:14-16.

14. How great is the membership of the “great multitude,” and how does this compare with the world population?

¹⁴ At present the world population is reported as being 4.6 billion people. Since 1935 C.E. those of the “great multitude” should have grown to number millions. Do they? Well, the chosen remnant of a few thousand is almost crowded out of view by the teeming hundreds of thousands of baptized witnesses of Jehovah who are active in ‘preaching this good news of the kingdom’ earth wide “for a witness to all the nations.” (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10) According to the careful tabulation that is made annually by the headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and its 95 branch offices, there are well over 2.4 million regularly active in Jehovah’s prescribed work for this “conclusion of the system of things.” And the ingathering of all those who will make up the final membership of the “great multitude” to its fullest extent is not yet over. It should increase! But for now the ratio is about one of the “great multitude” for every 2,000 people on earth.

15. (a) Why is it reasonable that persons now living will survive the world’s end? (b) Why will the King of the new system not become just a short-time father of them?

¹⁵ By now there should not be much left of the “one hour” during which the symbolic “ten horns” rule as kings with the scarlet-colored animal, that is, “the image of the wild beast,” the United Nations organization. Reasonably, then, members of the “great multitude” can survive the approaching destruction of the symbolic “wild beast” and its “image.” Under Jehovah’s protection they will survive the fiery end of this wicked system of things and enter into the righteous new system of things. (Revelation 7:16, 17) There they will not swerve from the divinely marked way of life. Hence, Jesus Christ the King will become their Eternal Father.​—Isaiah 9:6, 7.

Getting Ready for Uninterrupted Life

16. What statement may now be made with confidence, and what words of Jesus may here be appropriately recalled?

¹⁶ So, then, the statement can now be made with confidence and with due foresight, “Millions now alive will never die off our earth.” Here it is again most fitting to call to mind Jesus’ startling words: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; and everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.”​—John 11:25, 26.

17. How have those of the “great multitude” already acknowledged that they owe salvation to Jehovah God and to the Lamb, and where are they now serving God in an acceptable way?

¹⁷ Already the living members of the “great multitude” are exercising faith in the One who is “the resurrection and the life.” By the dedication of themselves to Jehovah God and by symbolizing this by water baptism, they acknowledge that they owe salvation entirely to “God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.” They are in the courtyards of Jehovah’s temple, standing before His throne, acceptably so because they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.​—Revelation 7:9, 10, 14.

18. What may now be put to the account of the “great multitude,” and what relationship with God may they be viewed as having?

¹⁸ The covering of righteousness being thus imputed to the “great multitude,” life may now also be entered upon their account. (Romans 6:13) Like the pre-Christian patriarch Abraham, to whom righteousness was imputed because of his active faith, they can be looked upon as ‘friends of God.’ (Romans 4:6-22; James 2:23; Psalm 32:2) Because they are maintaining their righteous standing before Jehovah God he will preserve them alive on earth clear through “the war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon, with which this old system of things will end.

19. (a) What will they not need to “come to life”? (b) Why will they “never die at all”?

¹⁹ So Har–Magedon survivors will need no resurrection from the dead in order to “come to life” on earth. In their case the words of Jesus will be true in a very literal sense: “Everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.” (John 11:26) By unswervingly carrying out their dedication to Jehovah God and doing his will as it is made known to them through the King Jesus Christ, they will attain to actual perfect righteousness by the end of the thousand years of Christ’s reign. Under the final test that will be imposed upon all restored mankind at that time, they will prove their whole-souled integrity to the Most High God and will keep their names recorded in “the book of life.”​—Revelation 20:7-15.

20. How will their privilege and experience be unique among all those who will dwell in the Paradise earth, and to whom are the thanks for this entirely due?

²⁰ What a unique privilege is now set before the “great multitude” of the Fine Shepherd’s “other sheep”! (John 10:16) The hope that is set before them​—that of living in unmarred happiness in a garden of Eden restored to earth and expanded worldwide—​is most inviting. Truly they will have something for which to live. Among all mankind that will dwell upon the Paradise earth their experience will indeed be unique and different, that of having survived the end of this wicked system of things and of never dying off our earth. The one to be thanked for this is the Source of perfect life, Jehovah God, through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Questions for Review

□ To whom does Jesus’ promise of ‘never dying at all’ apply?

□ What is the wild beast of Revelation chapter 17, and how is it involved with whether people receive everlasting life or not?

□ Why is it reasonable that people now living will survive the world’s end?

□ How does God view members of the “great multitude,” and what do they have imputed to them?

[Picture on page 15]

How does your attitude toward this “beast” affect your surviving to enjoy everlasting life?

[Picture on page 17]

Millions will never die. How can you be among them?

Insight on the News

“Generation” Still Here

“This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur,” said Jesus when describing “the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matthew 24:3, 34) The things he said would occur​—major wars, food shortages, earthquakes, widespread fear, rampaging disease and Kingdom preaching—​have all been fulfilled since the year 1914, when the first global war began. (Matthew, chapter 24; Luke, chapter 21) But how long would the generation last? Is it still with us?

A report on the recently released 1980 census, published in the South African newspaper Die Vaderland, gives evidence that many of that 1914 generation are still with us today. A large number of the population of South Africa are persons who were 14 years of age or older at the outbreak of the world war in 1914. At the time of the census, almost 50,000 men and women were still alive who were born in or before 1900​—about one out of 500 of the population there. “The census figures also indicate that there are now 10,480 people over the age of 100 in South Africa,” reports the paper.

If such population figures are similar for most of the world, it becomes evident that a large number of the 1914 generation are still living today. Of course, their numbers are steadily dwindling, and, therefore, sometime in the near future, we confidently can expect “the end” to come, followed by the time when God’s Messianic Kingdom will be the only government ruling the earth.​—Matthew 24:14; Revelation 21:1-5.

Redirecting Human Effort

“I have studied war and written against war most of my working life,” writes Herman Wouk, author of the historical novel The Winds of War. Now, he says, “we are trapped in a monstrous and incredibly frightening and dangerous closed loop of insanity” involving the “buildup and counter-buildup of destructive weapons” and “everybody has come to take the whole horrible lunacy for granted. . . . The ingenuity, labor, and treasure poured out on this closed loop of insanity truly stun the mind.” On the other hand, Wouk speculates: “If nations did not learn war any more, there would be nothing mankind could not do, and could not make of this frail little global island on which we float through black space.”

Happily, war will cease​—albeit not by the efforts of men, among whom, says the author, “there persist a thousand quarrels.” Rather, according to the Bible, it is God who “is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth.” (Psalm 46:9) Soon he will intervene, and, by means of his direction and help, mankind will focus their efforts on remaking this globe into a Paradise of peace and happiness.​—Isaiah 2:2-4; Psalm 72:7, 8.

Quake Clarifies Scripture

“Today we have the smell of the dead who have been asleep in the tombs,” said a Red Cross worker, describing one striking effect of a powerful earthquake that hit Popayán, Colombia, just before the Easter weekend. “The cemetery tombs opened up and corpses came out. . . . I’ve never seen anything like it.” As reported in the St. Petersburg Times, the Red Cross worker was stunned “by the sight of corpses bursting from their tombs in the cemeteries of this mountain town. The quake that Thursday shook this city of 200,000 struck with such force that the walls of mausoleums crumbled, spilling caskets. . . . The city was shaken as if God had taken a jackhammer to it.”

This unusual happening helps to verify as well as explain the Biblical record of a similar event that occurred in Jerusalem some 1,900 years ago at the time of Jesus’ death. Then, Matthew 27:51-53 tells us, “the earth quaked, and the rock-masses were split. And the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up . . . and they became visible to many people.” Then, as in Colombia, the dead thus exposed were seen by witnesses who told those in the city, as the Bible account indicates by saying that persons “coming out from among the memorial tombs . . . entered into the holy city.”​—Mt 27 Verse 53.

Do You Respect the Name of Christ?

“God exalted [Jesus] to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground, and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”​—PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11.

IN THE verses above, the apostle Paul described the respect and honor that is due the name of Jesus. Do you ‘bend the knee’ in his name? Do you know “the name that is above every other name” that Jehovah gave to him? Today, hundreds of millions claim to be Christian. Can it be said that they ‘bend the knee’ in the name of Jesus? Let us examine that name and see what is involved in ‘bending the knee’ in its honor.

What Kind of Name?

First, what is the “name” that was given to Jesus? It is not merely his personal name. Other humans have been named Jesus, so that is hardly a “name that is above every other name.” Neither is it Jesus’ name in the sense of his reputation. True, Jesus became known as Jehovah’s foremost witness in all creation. (Revelation 3:14) However, he earned that name for himself. This “name that is above every other name” was ‘kindly given’ to Jesus by Jehovah.

What, then, is the name? Some words of the prophet Isaiah help us to answer that. Hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah wrote about him: “For there has been a child born to us, there has been a son given to us; and the princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”​—Isaiah 9:6.

What does “name” mean here? It refers to the high position and authority that Jesus would be given so that he could fulfill his Father’s will. It is in recognition of and submission to this high authority that every knee has to bend. Since that is the case, let us examine more closely these four titles mentioned by Isaiah.

In what ways is Jesus a “Wonderful Counselor”?

First, Isaiah said that Jesus’ name would be “Wonderful Counselor.” He would be authorized to give wonderful counsel to mankind. Before coming to earth Jesus already served as the Word, or Jehovah’s chief spokesman. (John 1:1) While on earth he spoke words that led men to everlasting life​—wonderful counsel indeed! Thus, Peter said to him: “You have sayings of everlasting life.” (John 6:68) Jesus is the key figure in Jehovah’s channel of communication to mankind. (Revelation 1:1) It is vital for everyone today to listen to his words. He is “the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) No salvation is possible for those who refuse to listen to this “Wonderful Counselor.”

In what sense is Jesus a “Mighty God”?

Isaiah also foretold that Jesus would be a “Mighty God.” Before coming to earth he was “a god” in the sense that he was “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (John 1:1; Colossians 1:15) After dying as a human and being raised as an immortal spirit, he is a god in the sense that he partakes bodily of “the divine quality.”​—Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 6:15, 16.

However, there is an authority associated with the title “Mighty God.” In the Bible certain men were called gods. Why? Because they served as judges in the nation of Israel. (Psalm 82:1-6) Jesus, the “Mighty God,” is Jehovah’s great appointed Judge. He himself explained what this meant: “The Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.”​—John 5:22, 23.

Among the judgment acts entrusted to Jesus is the judging of his own congregation​—both those who had died prior to his return in Kingdom power and those still alive—​at the period of his presence during “the conclusion of the system of things.” (Matthew 24:3) He also does the judging of the nations today, separating “the sheep” from “the goats.” In addition, he will preside over the thousand-year judgment day of all mankind after Armageddon. A “Mighty God” indeed!​—Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 11:18; 1 Peter 4:17; Revelation 20:4, 5, 13.

Why is Jesus properly called “Eternal Father”?

Jesus was also to be an “Eternal Father.” How would that be? Well, Adam was the first father of the human race. However, he lost the opportunity to be an “eternal father” when he sinned. He could no longer give his children everlasting life as an inheritance. Jesus, on the other hand, did not sin. And by sacrificing his sinless life for mankind, he opened the way to everlasting life for those who exercised faith. (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2) He thus will give them the everlasting life that Adam failed to give them. Hence, the Bible calls him “the last Adam,” “a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45) He is properly called the “Eternal Father” of the future perfect human race.

How does Jesus fill the role of “Prince of Peace”?

Finally, Isaiah said that Jesus’ name would be “Prince of Peace.” He would be a King, bringing peace to his subjects. (Psalm 72:6, 7) After his resurrection Jesus showed the extent of his authority when he said: “All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth.” (Matthew 28:18) This great authority included ruling as King over his own congregation since 33 C.E. and over God’s Kingdom since 1914. (Colossians 1:13; Revelation 11:15) Jesus will bring peace to this earth by destroying God’s enemies and by ruling in justice over righteous humans.​—Psalm 37:10, 11; 72:7, 8; Daniel 2:44.

Acknowledging Jesus’ Name

Thus it is seen that “the name that is above every other name” involves the position, power or authority that God gave to Jesus. It truly is above every other name since no other creature was given such a high authority. Only of Jesus was it said: “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” (Acts 4:12) And only Jesus could say: “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”​—John 14:14.

Hence, the apostle Paul went on to say: “In the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground.” (Philippians 2:10) Yes, even “those in heaven,” the faithful angels, acknowledge his high position and authority. (Hebrews 1:4-6) “Those under the ground” will learn about Jesus’ “name” when they have part in the earthly resurrection. Only for those who then ‘bend the knee’ in respect for his God-given authority will that resurrection prove to be “a resurrection of life.”​—John 5:29; Revelation 20:12.

“Those on earth” too​—that is, those of us now alive—​are obliged to ‘bend the knee’ in the name of Jesus if we wish to gain eternal life. This means listening to Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, and applying his counsel. (Matthew 7:24, 25) It means exercising faith in him so that our sins will be forgiven. Thus he will eventually become our Eternal Father.

Especially, it means honoring and being subject now to God’s appointed Judge and King, Jesus. We must prove ourselves “sheep”​—not “goats”—​by our deeds toward the King’s brothers. We must preach the good news about the Kingdom of this “Prince of Peace” to others. (Matthew 24:14; 25:34-40) And we must abide by the laws of his Kingdom while remaining neutral in the affairs of the nations of this world.​—James 2:8; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; John 15:19.

Jehovah has invited the world’s rulers to subject themselves to Jesus. (Psalm 2:10-12) They refuse, however, and in many cases oppose Christians who do subject themselves to him. Thus, ‘bending the knee’ in the name of Jesus is not always easy. Jesus himself warned: “You will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name.”​—Matthew 24:9.

Faithful Christians experience that hatred when they insist on honoring Jesus and showing proper respect for the high power and authority of Christ. Nevertheless, it is a happy privilege and promises great rewards to be found among those referred to in Philippians 2:11: “Every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

Spread of Kingdom Truth in Guyana

GUYANA is located on the north coast of South America, nestled between Suriname on the east, Venezuela on the west and Brazil on the south. Until it became an independent nation in 1966, Guyana was known as British Guiana. The country is nearly the size of the state of Idaho in the United States, although its population of 800,000 is considerably smaller.

East Indians make up a little more than half the total population. Their ancestors were brought from India to work on plantations. Another 40 percent or so of the population are blacks whose ancestors were brought from Africa as slaves. The rest of the people are descendants of the Indians who lived here when European explorers arrived in the 1500’s, along with a sprinkling of Chinese, Portuguese and people of other nationalities. English is the official language, but most of the people also speak a local language.

Kingdom Truth Reaches Guyana

Back around the turn of the century, Kingdom truth reached a logging camp at Orealla on the Courantyne River. There a Peter Johassen came into possession of a copy of The Watchtower and shared its contents with a Mr. Elgin, who wrote to Brooklyn, New York, for more Bible literature. Although Elgin did not hold fast to the Kingdom truths he had learned, he interested others in them in the town of New Amsterdam. The small group established there is now a thriving congregation of about 110 publishers, and other congregations in nearby towns have grown out of this original group.

Meanwhile, in the capital city of Georgetown, Edward Phillips obtained Bible literature and gathered relatives and friends at his home for regular Bible discussions. In 1908 he wrote the Watch Tower Society and requested that a representative of the organization be sent to visit the country. Four years later E. J. Coward arrived and delivered talks to hundreds of persons at the Town Halls in Georgetown and New Amsterdam. Soon others began to join the small groups of Bible Students.

In time, the home where the group met for Bible study in Georgetown was no longer large enough. So a room at Sommerset House was rented, and it served as the congregation’s meeting place for 45 years, from 1913 until 1958. In 1914, the year World War I began, a branch office of the Watch Tower Society was established. It was housed in the home of Brother Phillips.

When the nations became locked in world war, British Guiana was gripped by war hysteria since it was then part of the British Empire. The clergy urged that prayers be said for the British and their allies. By 1917 Brother Coward had returned to the country, and in a letter to the press he reviewed the world situation in the light of Bible prophecy. At the Town Hall in Georgetown, he also made a forceful presentation entitled “Battering Down the Walls of Babylon.”

The clergy were so incensed that they prevailed upon the authorities to have Brother Coward expelled and to have a number of our publications banned, a ban that lasted until 1922. He was well respected and, as he departed, many lined the wharf shouting: “He was the only man preaching the truth.” Stevedores threatened to strike in protest, but the Bible Students (now known as Jehovah’s Witnesses) advised them not to.

In the years following the first world war, the spread of Kingdom truth was further hindered by the influence of P. S. L. Johnson, a former member of the Brooklyn headquarters staff who had apostatized from the truth. He visited British Guiana a number of times. For a while the Bible Students in the country were split into three parts, one loyal to the organization, an opposition group and a third group not knowing what to do. However, Jehovah’s blessing was only upon the loyal group and it eventually prospered.

Among those who remained firm in loyally spreading Kingdom truth is Felix Powlett, now 90 years of age. He was baptized in 1916 and still serves as an elder with the Newtown-Kitty Congregation in Georgetown. There is also Malcolm Hall, now 92, who was baptized in 1915. He has served as a pioneer minister for the past 31 years on Leguan Island on the Essequibo River.

World War II and Postwar Activity

The second world war also had an effect upon the spread of Kingdom truth. In 1941, when 52 Kingdom proclaimers were active, The Watchtower and Consolation (now called Awake!) were banned. In 1944 that ban was extended to include all literature published by the Watch Tower Society. Yet, despite the opposition, the Kingdom preaching continued.

Early in 1946, less than a year after the end of the war, a petition campaign was launched during which 31,370 signatures were obtained protesting the government’s action against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then, in April, the Watch Tower Society’s president N. H. Knorr visited British Guiana and met with the Colonial secretary to seek relief from the ban. Finally, on June 12, 1946, the ban was lifted.

During the following ten weeks the 70 Kingdom publishers in the country showed their joy by distributing 11,798 books and booklets that had been banned for two years. They spent a total of 20,547 hours in distributing the Kingdom truths this literature contained. When street witnessing work was begun here for the first time in August 1946, magazines were placed almost as quickly as local newspapers were sold. And in 1946 Gilead missionary William Tracy arrived to help in the preaching work.

Reaching Outlying Areas

Georgetown and New Amsterdam cover only 2,299 acres (930 ha)​—less than four square miles. Yet they have 27 percent of Guyana’s population. Even in the early years the publishers sought to reach outlying areas with the Kingdom message. When Brother W. Tracy arrived, there were only three congregations in the country. He notes: “I scouted out the land, making a number of trips up and down the coast and up the rivers to contact isolated interested persons and to find new interest. I traveled by the coastal train, buses, bicycle, large riverboats, small boats and even canoes.”

Another Gilead missionary, John Ponting, who became branch servant in 1950, tells about working territory along the banks of Guyana’s many rivers. “We would take the regular transport ships. When villagers along the way paddled out in their canoes to exchange mail with this traveling post office, we requested from them a lift and went ashore, trusting that someone would provide us food and lodging. We would witness in the village, and then at night a place to sleep was always provided. The next day someone would paddle us down the river and we would spread the Kingdom message in the next village. Visiting a lumber mill one afternoon, the manager stopped work and assembled the men for a 15-minute talk, and all took literature.”

By 1951 there was an average of 279 each month spreading Kingdom truth, four times as many as just five years before! In more recent years the brothers have used their own boats, Kingdom Proclaimer I and Kingdom Proclaimer II, to reach settlements along the rivers and canals. There are dangers in connection with this work, as Frederick McAlman, a native Witness who graduated from Gilead in 1970, relates:

“On my way home from witnessing on the Pomeroon River one Saturday afternoon, a large cargo boat cruising at full speed collided with me. The captain and crew were not paying attention because of a rum-drinking spree. I was knocked out of Kingdom Proclaimer I into the river under the boat. I went down, fighting for dear life in the darkness, continually bouncing my head on the bottom of the boat just a few inches from the powerful propeller. A young man on the boat, seeing my plight, plunged into the river and rescued me. For several weeks I was in constant pain due to injuries, but I was grateful to be alive!”

That experience, however, did not deter Brother McAlman. He explains: “I was determined to keep on because of the interest in the Bible shown by persons along the river. Seven miles [11 km] from Charity at Sirika is a Congregation Book Study group and they depend on me.”

Overcoming Various Obstacles

When Gilead graduate Joy Strom came in 1959, the number of Kingdom publishers in British Guiana had increased to 603. She continues to spread the good news in her assignment despite being in bed, a victim of multiple sclerosis. Her Bible students come to her home for instruction. Last year Joy devoted 365 hours to the ministry and conducted a monthly average of three Bible studies. She explains happily: “I was able to attend the ‘Kingdom Truth’ District Convention. Lying in a van parked in front of the platform I could see the dramas, hear the talks and speak to the brothers who came to see me.”

A common obstacle in Guyana is that many couples are not legally married, and so when they learn Kingdom truths they need to make adjustments in their lives to conform to Bible standards. This was the situation with Gordon Chase. Back in 1971 he ordered “Make Sure of All Things; Hold Fast to What Is Fine.” Instead of mailing it, James Thompson, who worked at the branch, delivered it personally. Thompson made several calls trying, unsuccessfully, to get a study going. Eventually contact was lost.

Yet the Bible knowledge had an effect. Gordon had the union with his companion legalized, and he stopped eating black pudding, a local delicacy made from blood. Years later, in 1979, he accepted an invitation to a Bible talk where the speaker was James Thompson. “I hid in the back seat of the hall,” Gordon relates. “I didn’t want him to see me, but he did. After the meeting he came up to me, shook my hand and said, ‘When are you ready to start your Bible study?’ (as though he was sure I was going to start.) So I said: ‘Saturday.’ The following Saturday he came, and my wife joined us in the study.”

Gordon started in the field ministry in August 1979, was baptized along with his wife that November, began auxiliary pioneering the following June, and in September 1982 started regular pioneering. It is a pleasure to see so many now demonstrating this type of response to Kingdom truth.

Future Prospects

Although the Kingdom work began at the turn of the century, no congregation had its own Kingdom Hall until 1958. In 1969 a second one was added, and for the last 13 years there has been, on the average, one new Kingdom Hall erected each year. And others are in the process of being built.

Future prospects for expansion are bright. This past March saw 3,874 persons in attendance at the Memorial celebration. Last year 2,505 attended the “Kingdom Truth” District Convention. And there were 1,235 persons at a recent circuit assembly, although only 709 publishers are in the circuit. Some congregations report almost double the number of their publishers attending Sunday meetings. A good many youths have their sights on the pioneer service.

The Kingdom truth that first found its way to a logging camp has spread to 34 locations in Guyana. The 29 congregations and 6 isolated groups are divided into 2 circuits. And about 140 of the more than 1,100 publishers who share in the preaching activity each month do so as pioneers. There are still obstacles to the spread of Kingdom truth in this land, but with Jehovah’s continued blessing we look forward to a period of unparalleled expansion in the future.

[Maps on page 23]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

GUYANA

GEORGETOWN

NEW AMSTERDAM

COURANTYNE RIVER

[Map]

SOUTH AMERICA

GUYANA

[Picture on page 25]

Fred Phillips (son of Edward Phillips), Nathan Knorr and William Tracy in 1946

Help for the Victims of Incest

Questions From Readers

■ Does Jesus’ promise of everlasting life, as given at John 11:25, 26, apply only to the anointed, or do these words embrace also the “great crowd,” who look forward to life in the Paradise earth?

At certain times in the past The Watchtower has suggested that the application of this scripture is limited to those Christians who gain heavenly life. Evidently this view was taken because Jesus was there speaking to persons who later would be given that hope. But a careful examination of these scriptures shows that Jesus was not making such a limitation. As the articles for study in this issue of The Watchtower confirm, our viewpoint on John 11:25, 26 must be the broader one that includes those persons whose hope is to live forever in the Paradise earth. Why do we make this statement?

Note what Martha says about the dead Lazarus at John 11:24: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” Which resurrection did she there have in mind? Why, the resurrection that Abraham, and other integrity-keeping Jews looked forward to in faith​—an earthly resurrection! How, then, would Jesus’ following words appeal to Martha? They would convey to her the situation with regard to the earthly resurrection.

Jesus next identified himself as the one who would raise the dead. But he did not say that he was talking only about some of the dead who exercised faith in him. He is “the resurrection and the life” for all who attain to everlasting life, whether in heaven or on earth. All of what Jesus goes on to say, in Joh 11 verses 25 and 26, may be applied to both groups, though in different ways. Anointed Christians “come to life” in that they are raised to immortal heavenly life. Those of the dead who will live forever on earth are resurrected and then are gradually brought to perfection.​—Compare Revelation 20:4.

It is certainly true of the anointed, as stated in Joh 11 verse 26, that they will “never die at all” after being resurrected. They then ‘see God just as he is,’ so that they are no longer “walking by faith.” (1 John 3:2; 2 Corinthians 5:7) So when Jesus says, “Everyone that is living and exercises faith in me,” he introduces a factor that is especially significant with regard to those today whose hope is to attain to everlasting life on earth. Righteousness is already imputed to the “great crowd” because “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” They are already living in the flesh with the hope of surviving the great tribulation, and their lives are considered righteous lives, like that of Abraham of old. They, together with resurrected mankind, must continue to exercise faith during Christ’s millennial reign in order to attain to everlasting life in human perfection.​—Revelation 7:9, 10, 14, 15; 21:3, 4.

Actually, this is not an entirely new viewpoint. From time to time through the years, the Watch Tower Society’s publications have suggested a broader application of John 11:24-26. For example, The Watchtower of June 1, 1959, page 337, said of the witnesses of Jehovah gathered out of all nations: “Those who expect to live on this earth hope also to survive the end of this world, and to live on into the new world without ever dying.” It cited Hebrews 11:1, 6 and John 11:26 in support. And The Watchtower of April 15, 1976, page 243, likewise included resurrected mankind along with the “great crowd” of Armageddon survivors in those same words of Jesus: “Everyone that is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all. Do you believe this?”

Do you?

Practical Answers to Problems

This is what the Watchtower magazine provides. The following is a sample of the appreciative letters received:

“Thank you from the depth of my heart for The Watchtower dealing with sexual morality. I feel it was an answer to my prayers. I especially appreciated the straightforward and firm way you deal with the problems we are seeing all around us.

“Having learned firsthand that the world has nothing of value to offer us, I have been strict with my children. This ‘morality’ magazine not only helped them to see the dangers of certain courses, but helped me also because it reaffirmed my deeply felt convictions on certain matters. I’m grateful you put these in print for us parents so that our children can see that mom and dad haven’t been unreasonable after all.

“So thank you for dealing frankly with situations that exist. We parents would appreciate having more of these articles.”

The Watchtower deals in a practical way with the real problems of the day​—alcoholism, divorce, incest, profanity, and so forth—​showing how the Bible can really solve these problems. Do not miss the next issues!

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