| News and Views | August 1944 |
God’s Hand in the Affairs of Men
Believing that the outworking of God’s plan overshadows the chaos wrought by man, we are pleased to present as our News and Views article for this month the following full report of a lecture broadcast over a chain of California radio stations on July 2. This lecture was broadcast from the convention platform of the annual gathering of Bible Students in Los Angeles, July 1-4.
THERE are times in the experiences of men and nations when a realization of their utter helplessness in the face of possible disaster is brought home to them in such a telling manner that they instinctively turn to God to seek wisdom and strength in their time of need. The United Nations’ invasion of Europe has been just such an occasion to countless millions of the human family. Those who ordinarily give little thought to God have, by the sheer awfulness of the assault and the possible tragic consequences, turned to God for help. I think we may safely say that there has been more praying during recent weeks, by people who never prayed before, than at any time in the history of the human race.
The editor of one the nation’s largest daily papers felt incapable of saying anything editorially that would be adequately appropriate to the seriousness of the times, so he devoted the editorial space of his paper to the publishing of our Lord’s prayer. This editor ordinarily bold and outspoken when expressing his viewpoint of local, national and international affairs, found himself without words to say what ought to be said upon such an occasion.
And what better choice of a petition to the High God and Creator of the universe could any man make than that of our Lord’s prayer! This prayer was given to Christians by Jesus Himself. In that part of it which has to do with God’s purposes toward the human race, there is a request for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth even as it is now done in heaven. It should be obvious to all that the answer to such a petition would be the solution of every baffling problem that now confronts a war-weary and suffering world. Furthermore, all will agree, I believe, that if God’s will had been done on earth down through the ages, there would be no invasion news to stagger the world today, nor would any of the wars of the past now be recorded on the bloody pages of history.
World’s Faith Tested
The Lord’s prayer, to be sure, has ascended to God from the hearts of His people for more than nineteen centuries. Thus far there has been little or no evidence that the Creator has heard the prayer, or, at least that He has made a move to answer it. Hence, the vast majority of those who still offer this divinely-inspired petition do so with little faith that it will ever mean anything more than empty words. When all the nations of the earth have come to grips in a life-and-death struggle which threatens to destroy the very foundations of civilization, it is a most opportune time to re-examine the claims of Christianity in the light of our Lord’s prayer. In view of a worldwide shedding of blood, with all of the human misery and woe that follow in the wake of a global war, what reason is there to believe that the God of heaven pays any attention whatever to His human creatures?
Because the tragedies of today so vitally affect our lives, they seem more horrible than those of yesterday. Yet we cannot scan the pages of human history without realizing that each and every generation of man from the very dawn of his existence has likewise received its baptism of tears and blood. Hence, when we inquire concerning God’s interest in the affairs of men in this, our day of sorrow and woe, we should realize that all past generations of the human family might as properly, and no doubt did, ask the same question.
God Loves the World
The Bible tells us of God’s love for the entire race, and certainly this love is one that includes those who lived yesterday as well as those who live today, and are yet to live tomorrow. When we find the answer from God’s Word which will enable us to understand God’s love for the people in the light of present human suffering, we will also then discover why He has permitted such conditions at any time. What, then, do the Scriptures say concerning God’s hand in the affairs of men? What has been His interest in human welfare? What has He been doing, and what does He intend yet to do for the people, in order that they may be adequately repaid for the suffering they have endured?
Our President is reported as having said that, in his opinion, nothing could really compensate the world for its present suffering except a worldwide establishment of the Kingdom of Christ. Is there reason to believe that at long last, God will answer the prayer of His people, and establish that Kingdom? Is there Scriptural and historical evidence that God’s hand has been in the affairs of men and nations throughout the ages, with the object of so overruling in human experience that His long-promised Kingdom might ultimately hold sway upon this sin-cursed earth?
This question has to do with the entire problem of human suffering and woe. We cannot hope, therefore, to find the answer unless we go back to the very beginning of human experience, and find out from the Scriptures what has plunged mankind into this seemingly endless blackout of human happiness. But if the Scriptural answer to our inquiry concerning God’s interest in man is to give us assurance, we must accept Christianity’s textbook for what it claims to be—a divine revelation of the Creator’s purpose toward His human creatures. The Bible can mean nothing to us unless we accept literally its account of the creation of man, and God’s purpose toward him.
The Creation of Man
The Bible tells us that God created man in His own image, and gave him dominion over the lower creatures of earth. Our first parents were commissioned to multiply and fill the earth with their offspring. They understood, also, from the commission given them, that as their family increased the borders of the Garden of Eden were to be enlarged until the entire planet became one vast paradise of God, occupied and enjoyed by a perfect race of His human beings enjoying peace and happiness and life everlasting. There was one condition, however, upon which this happy purpose of the Creator could be realized by His perfect creatures, and that was their obedience to His laws. They were told plainly that disobedience would result in death.—Gen. 1:27,28; 2:16,17
At this point tragedy entered. The Bible outlines briefly the nature of what occurred. Prior to the creation of man, angelic sons of God had been created. Among them, and very high in rank, was Lucifer the Son of the Morning. He was also perfect, the Scriptures tell us, until the day that iniquity was found in him. God then changed his name to Satan. The fallen Lucifer was ambitious to become a ruler in the earth and used the secret weapon of deceit to gain control of the human race. Through the serpent, he approached Mother Eve and challenged the truthfulness of God, who had informed our first parents that they would die if they disobeyed His law.
Satan, in the blackest lie that was ever told, said to Eve, “Ye shall not surely die.” This lie of Satan became the foundation of all false religions, and is the origin of the erroneous belief that man does not actually die—that he only seems to die. (Gen. 3:4) Building upon this first and greatest of all lies, the devil has advanced myriad and hideous theories concerning the Creator which have distorted humanity’s conception of the true God of love.
Thus, the archenemy of God and of the human race invaded the minds of the people and by means of deceit, backed up by the powerful influence of selfishness, seized control of God’s human creation. Satan’s stranglehold upon mankind continued to be tightened until finally he became, as the Scriptures show, the prince of this world. Jesus so referred to him, and the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 4:4 describes the devil as the God of this world, the one who has blinded the minds of men to prevent them from understanding and serving the true God.
Satan’s Empire
Satan’s rulership has been characterized by selfishness, disease and death. All the things that men and women hate, and against which they struggle, are part and parcel of his empire. They are the trappings of a misrule of selfishness and sin which has been directed, or misdirected, by Satan’s master mind of intrigue and deceit. The ultimate end for every one of his subjects has been death. On the casualty list which has resulted from his invasion of the minds of men are the countless millions in all ages who died because of sin.
The Apostle Paul informs us that the devil has had the power over death. (Heb. 2:14) This statement simply means that his rulership over the minds of men has always and inevitably resulted in death. This is wholly in keeping with divine revelation by which is made known to us that, the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23) Satan’s influence has always been contrary to the laws of God. It has always led away from love and justice and mercy, in the direction of selfishness, injustice and cruelty. In other words, Satan has induced the human race to become a race of sinners. He captured the minds of our first parents and enslaved them through disobedience and their children, the entire human race born in sin and misshapen in iniquity, have been helpless to extricate themselves from the slavery of sin and death into which they were born.
Satan’s Victory Temporary
However, the seemingly victorious outcome of this Satanic invasion of the precincts of man, is not the final chapter of human experience. In the background of human suffering and death under the rulership of Satan, the Word of God traces for us an outline of divine accomplishments which eventually lead to the complete overthrow of Satanic rule, and the destruction of all those hated elements of his reign of sin and death which have plagued the human race since the day that Adam and Eve succumbed to his deceit and aggression.
This outline, which reveals God’s hand in the affairs of men, comes to us largely through the brilliant array of promises that are recorded for our information and comfort. (Rom. 15:4) While it may have appeared—and, indeed, to the unenlightened still appears—that the promises of God represent merely the wishful thinking of ancient ideologists, yet in them we can recognize the pattern of the divine purpose. And when we see that pattern and the tremendous preparations that the Creator has been making to deliver the human race from its slavery to Satan, we realize, with rejoicing, that there has been no miscarriage of the divine plan, no instance whatsoever in which there has been too little of divine power or when the use of that power has been too late for the accomplishment of His grand designs. If circumstances tend to indicate a lack of interest in humankind by our loving Creator, it is due to our misunderstanding of divine strategy in the accomplishment of His plan.
The First Ray of Hope
The first indication given us by the Creator that despite the entrance of sin He had not deserted His human creation, is found in a statement by which He served notice on Satan that his empire was to be overthrown. To the serpent, the agency of Satan, God said, “The seed of the woman shall bruise your head.”—Gen. 3:15
Had God said nothing more than this, were there no further revelation of His purposes, had He not, through His holy prophets, signified His intentions toward mankind more in detail we could not now know what that vague statement to the serpent really meant. But in order that those who serve Him may have the comfort of His promises and be enlightened concerning their privileges of co-operation in His plan, the Creator continued to unfold His loving designs. We learn, therefore, that God’s declaration to the serpent implied the answer to the Christian’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” In the 20th chapter of Revelation we are given a thumbnail sketch of the method by which the seed of the woman is to bruise the serpent’s head. In this wonderful chapter we are told that a mighty angel comes down from heaven and that He lays hold upon that old serpent, the Devil, and Satan, and binds him for a thousand years.
The mighty angel, or messenger of God, here referred to, is none other than the seed of promise—the seed which was to bruise the serpent’s head. Following this is a brief description of the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ and of the fact that He reigns for a thousand years, and that during this thousand years, the dead, small and great, are restored and given an opportunity to live upon a perfect earth.
Blessings Promised To All
Long centuries after the tragedy in Eden, God again evinced His interest in the dying race by making a promise to His faithful servant Abraham. He said to this father of Israel that He intended to bless all the nations of the earth. In making this promise, God once more referred to a seed, an offspring, whose birth would be directed by divine providence. This promise of a coming seed was confirmed to Abraham by God’s oath, and it constituted the basis of Israel’s hope in a coming Messiah to rule over them, and through them to bless all nations.
The promise was reiterated in various forms by all God’s holy prophets. Through the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord, in foretelling the birth of the promised seed, explained that the Kingdom to be established by this representative of heaven would increase the sphere of its influence until the whole earth came under its protectorate of love. Isaiah’s prophecy reads as follows:
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isaiah 9:6,7
Outstanding in this promise of a coming government of righteousness is the fact that its victory over the forces of evil is guaranteed by divine, miracle-working power. The Son of promise mentioned is Christ, and the prophet declares that the government shall be upon His shoulder. This means that the divine Christ shoulders the responsibility for the outworking of God’s loving purpose to put down evil in the earth, and to exalt righteousness. And how reassuring this is! It means the unlimited ability of God which enabled Him to create millions of worlds; which made man, and gave him life; which continues to give life to all living things, will power the attack of Christ against the forces of sin and death which form the bulwark of Satan’s mighty fortress of iniquity. The prophet declares that “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
The Savior Born
This prophecy of Isaiah began to have its fulfillment with the birth of Jesus. He was the child born into the world by divine providence, and given to mankind by God as a manifestation of His love, and as a surety that all His loving promises would yet be fulfilled, to the everlasting joy of all mankind. And how significant are those words of comfort addressed to Jewish shepherds on the night that the Savior of the world was born! “Fear not,” the heavenly spokesman said, “… for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10,11) Suddenly a whole host of angelic creatures joined in the prophetic anthem singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”—Luke 2:14
In this message of the angels is the assurance that throughout the four thousand years of the past there had been no change in God’s expressed purpose to shower His blessings upon all people. He had promised to Abraham that all the families of the earth were to be blessed through a seed, and now, when Jesus was born, the angels’ message gave assurance that all the nations of the earth were still remembered by God, and that He was proceeding with His plan to bless them. The birth of Jesus marked a definite act of God in the fulfillment of His promises, promises that had been recorded by all of His holy prophets. Now those promises of a coming Messiah were being translated into reality—unto you, the angels announced to the shepherds, the Christ of promise is born.
Jesus’ Ministry Begins
At the age of thirty, Jesus, the foretold Messiah, entered upon His ministry, a ministry which was a constant reminder that He had come as a messenger from heaven, to fulfill the promises of the Creator concerning the establishment of a worldwide government of peace and life. The Old Testament promises of the Kingdom of God, in describing its blessings, foretold the opening of blind eyes, the unstopping of deaf ears, the giving of soundness of limb to the crippled, and the raising of the dead. As Jesus went about proclaiming the coming Kingdom of God, He handed out samples of the foretold Kingdom blessings. He opened a few blind eyes, He unstopped a few deaf ears, He healed some who were lame, He raised a few of the dead, and thus verified to the people that the God who had made promise of these good things to come was abundantly able to fulfill those promises.
Jesus’ earthly ministry was a very brief one, lasting only for three and a half years. Upon His shoulder had been imposed the tremendous responsibility of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, yet a few of His enemies were permitted to crucify Him. What a strange turn of events this appeared to be in the minds of those who had accepted Jesus as earth’s coming King. And even more strange, no doubt, was the Master’s philosophy of love, so rigidly practiced by Him that He refused to offer any resistance whatsoever to those who seized upon and killed Him!
All the great rulers of the past, and all outstanding rulers since, have ascended to their thrones and maintained their power by giving courageous battle to all opposers. But Jesus did not even attempt to defend Himself, nor would He permit His disciples to do so. Upon His defenseless head there came down the wrath of His jealous enemies until He was laid low in death.
But God’s plan had not failed! The Apostle Paul tells us that love never fails, and Jesus willingly laid down His life because He loved even His enemies.—I Corinthians 13:8
Jesus’ Death Necessary
Three days thereafter when divine power had intervened and raised Christ from the tomb, two of the Master’s disciples while discussing the tragic events by which their Lord, their King, their Messiah, the crown of their hopes, had been cruelly wrested from them and crucified, were joined by a stranger who inquired the cause of their sadness. Though unrecognized by them, this stranger was the risen Lord. After explaining to Him what had occurred and revealing thus the cause of their shattered hopes, Jesus expounded the meaning of the prophecies, which they had not, until then, fully comprehended.—Luke 24:13-32
He pointed out to these discouraged disciples the prophetic fact that before the promised Christ could establish His Kingdom of glory, it was first of all necessary that He suffer and die as man’s Redeemer. The blessings which God had promised were to be of an enduring character. The peace to be brought to mankind by Messiah’s Kingdom was to be a lasting peace. It was to be not only peace among nations, and among individuals, but peace between God and men. There was no way possible to guarantee such permanent and far reaching blessings to the human race except first of all Jesus die.
Christ’s Invasion
As we have already seen; Satan’s rulership over the earth was one which has, led to death, and he was the one who had the power over death. The condition of death brought about by Satan’s misrule is described by the Prophet Jeremiah as “the land of the enemy.” (Jeremiah 31:15,16) The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ died and arose that He might be the ruler both of the dead and the living. (Romans 14:9) Thus we see that by Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice of His life, by His willingness to die for those who were dead, by His courage in apparently surrendering to the evil which slew Him, He actually invaded the land of the enemy for the purpose of bringing deliverance to the prisoners of death. Yes, Jesus tasted death for every man, (Hebrews 2:9) and will yet lead forth the captives of death into the glorious liberty of life and happiness.—Romans 8:19-22
The Prophet Hosea was used of the Lord to foretell the ultimate destruction of man’s great enemy, death. Through this inspired prophet, the Lord says: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave.” (Hosea 13:14) Here we have a promise of the coming Redeemer and His work of sacrifice on behalf of a dying race. Because of this work victoriously done, God assures us further, saying, “O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.”
Centuries before this promise was made, God’s typical people Israel were held captives in the land of Egypt. The time came when He purposed to deliver them. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was not disposed to let the Israelites go, so the Lord plagued Egypt. Ten times the Egyptians felt the hand of God heavily laid upon them, until as a result of the tenth plague, the Israelites were permitted to leave. Thus, when God tells us that He will plague death; it is His wonderful way of assuring us that all death’s prisoners are to be brought out of that prison-house into the glorious liberty of life.
The Apostle Paul, in his wonderful outline of the resurrection, shows that the hope of life beyond the grave is centered in the Kingdom of Christ; that the purpose of Christ’s reign upon the earth is that of raising the dead and destroying death. He says that Christ “must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”—I Corinthians 15:25,26
Thus it is evident that Jesus’ voluntary surrender to His enemies to be crucified on Calvary’s cross was not a miscarriage of the divine purpose. It did not spell defeat of God’s plan; it did not indicate the triumph of selfishness over love. It was, rather, a necessary part of the divine arrangement whereby a sin-cursed and dying race could be restored to at-one-ment with the Creator and live forever. It marked the beginning of the triumph of divine love over selfishness.
Humanity Still Suffers
However, nineteen centuries have passed since that eventful day when Jesus invaded the land of the enemy to liberate the prisoners of death, yet this great enemy of man still holds the sin-cursed race within its hateful clutches. While Jesus was hailed as the Prince of Peace, war has continued to blight the happiness of each succeeding generation since His time. Even now its horrors are spreading out over the globe like a hideous octopus clutching the nations in its dreadful grip. Jesus came to give life, but the people for whom He gave His life still die. Jesus taught and exemplified the way of love, and pointed out its advantages over selfishness, but selfishness is still the motivating power back of nearly all human activities. It is because nineteen centuries since the death of Christ, the world is still struggling in the quagmire of sin, selfishness and death, that millions are wondering whether or not it is worth while to continue praying, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
But the sacred Word discloses the reason for this apparent delay. In revealing further the hand of God in the affairs of men, it shows that during these nineteen centuries of seeming failure, God’s plan to liberate the race has gone steadily forward. One of the foundation doctrines of the New Testament is that the true followers of the Master, described by the apostle as “good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” are invited to follow His way of love by laying down their lives with Him.
In the Christian warfare of right against selfish might, of truth against error, of righteousness against sin, of love against hate, these soldiers of the cross continue to give battle to the enemy faithfully and aggressively, like Jesus, until they complete the supreme sacrifice, even unto death. Such has been the way of every true Christian. The Apostle Paul describes their partnership with Jesus in sacrifice as being “planted together in the likeness of His death.”—Romans 6:3-5
Baptized For the Dead
The apostle, in explaining the purpose of Christian sacrifice, says that it is a baptism for the dead. (I Corinthians 15:29) A baptism of death, indeed, in which the followers of Jesus, like the Master Himself, lay down their lives faithfully and thus join with Him in the great work of sacrifice by which a dead world will finally be rescued from death, and restored to the complete perfection with which Adam and Eve were endowed by the hand of the Creator.
The sacrifice of Jesus was all-sufficient to redeem the world, but God, in His infinite wisdom and boundless grace, planned an opportunity for seine of the fallen race to become co-workers in the project of liberating mankind from death. Through His Word, He has offered these the great prize of immortality, and a position with Jesus as associate kings in His Kingdom. This crown of glory is theirs only upon condition that, like their Lord, they follow the way of love by willingly giving up their lives in sacrifice that others may be blessed.
Their experiences in sacrifice, and consequent suffering, prepare them for their future reign with Christ, and thus, in the providence of God, their part in the divine plan as vicegerents of God, will contribute to the everlasting blessing of all the families of the earth. For nineteen centuries, unnoticed and unknown by the world, these faithful saints of God, by following in the footsteps of the Redeemer, have continued to strengthen the bridgehead of righteousness and love from which ultimately will come deliverance of all the prisoners of death. Thus seen, the death of Jesus on Calvary’s cross, fundamentally necessary to the successful liberation of the enslaved race, was indeed the assurance of victory over sin and death, the assurance that Satan and his empire would, in the further development of the great plan of God, finally be destroyed.
The Prophetic Testimony
God’s hand in the affairs of men is further revealed by the prophecies of God’s Word, which describe the events of our day as those which would immediately precede the answer to the Christian’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth.” The series of calamitous events beginning in 1914, which have toppled kings from their thrones; uprooted state churches; destroyed countless millions of mankind by war, famine and pestilence; are all pointed out in the sacred Word. The infinite wisdom of God, conveyed to the prophets through the medium of the Holy Spirit, enabled them to present a preview of our day which is startlingly accurate.
Jesus, the greatest Teacher and Prophet of all time, tells us that when we see these things come to pass we should lift up our heads with confidence and hope knowing that our deliverance draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28) When Jesus thus spoke of “our” deliverance, He referred to His footstep followers who were to die with Him, and the deliverance which He promised was their deliverance in the first resurrection that they might live and reign with Him. At the same time however, the Scriptures make it plain that the deliverance of the church in the first resurrection signals the near approach of the deliverance of all mankind.
If anything could be more comforting than the divine assurance that our beloved dead are to return home to us, it is the fact that such a glorious homecoming is near at hand. When Jesus described the signs of the times which are parading before us in the news events of our day, He said that the generation which would witness these developments would not pass away until all should be fulfilled. (Luke 21:32) Truly then, it is given to this generation to hold a rendezvous with divine destiny! The great time-clock of the ages is even now striking the zero hour for Satan’s hold upon the masses of mankind.
Today, when we lift up our hearts to God and pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done,” we can do so in the belief that before the turn of the century, yes, even within the lifetime of the present generation, the human race will experience the result of the Kingdom of Christ enthroned and ruling in the affairs of men. For a thousand years that Kingdom will reign. Its influence of joy and love and life will be extended into every nook and corner of the globe. Its healing influence will empty every hospital bed. Its life-giving power will reach down into every tomb. All the blind eyes will be opened; all the deaf ears will be unstopped. This will be true both of those who are spiritually blind and deaf, as well as those who are literally blind and deaf, for we are told by the prophet that the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.—Habakkuk 2:14
No longer will Satan be permitted to deceive or mislead the people. No longer will his rule of selfishness and hate be permitted to destroy the peace and happiness of men and nations. As a result of the educational program of Christ’s Kingdom, the world will learn the advantages of love and mercy over selfishness and hate. Instead of securing all they can for themselves, men and women will learn’ that the real secret of joy is in doing all they can for others.
Opening the Gates of Hell
Jesus explained to Peter that when His church was complete the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The gates of hell are the gates of death, and this prophetic declaration of the Master is our assurance that when the preparatory features of God’s plan are completed in the deliverance and exaltation of the church, nothing can longer stand in the way of the complete deliverance of all the prisoners of death.
God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth through his seed will then be fulfilled. The apostle explains that the seed which God had in mind when He made that promise was first of all Jesus, and then His church. (Galatians 3:8,16,17-29) Jesus and His church together constitute the Christ of promise, Jesus being the Head and the church the body members of this Messianic company.
The families of the earth who lived in Abraham’s time are dead. The families of the earth who have lived in each successive century since, are dead. Families of the earth are dying now. They are dying in their beds; they are dying on the far-flung battlefields of the earth. They are dying as a result of destruction rained down from the skies. The evermounting toll of death in a world gone mad brings home to us as nothing else could, that if ever God fulfils His promise to bless all the families of the earth, there is no other way it can be done except through the opening of the doors of death and liberating its prisoners.
The Kingdom’s Two Phases
The Prophet Micah explains that when the Kingdom of God is established, and people recognize its authority, they will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruninghooks; that nation will no longer lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The prophet explains further that in order for the world to be instructed thus in the way of truth and righteousness, the law shall go forth from Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.—Micah 4:1-4.
In this prophecy, the term “Zion” is used pictorially to describe the divine Christ, Jesus and His church. The term “Jerusalem” is pictorial of the earthly representatives of the divine Christ. The Scriptures explain that these earthly representatives will be none other than the resurrected prophets of old. During the centuries preceding the coming of Christ to die for the world, God had these men in training for their future work. Moses the great lawgiver of all time, will again be recognized as an authority in the law of God. All the other prophets and faithful servants of God of that era will, according to the Scriptures, be raised from the dead at the very outset of the Kingdom reign, and will take their places among men to administer the Kingdom laws.—Psa. 45:16; Luke 13:28 29; Heb. 11:39 40
Is this mere wishful thinking?
No! It is what the God of the universe has promised!
It is that for which all Christians pray.
It is that which will reveal to the masses that they were not created merely to suffer and to die, but that God, whose mighty power and wisdom and love are revealed in all created things, loved them and has used His power to assure the victorious accomplishments of His purpose in their creation.
At the close of that thousand-year reign of Christ, Satan, the instigator of all evil, will be destroyed. Those who willfully continue to serve him will also be destroyed. While countless millions died as a result of Satan’s usurped misrulership over the human race, he himself will be on the casualty list resulting from the reign of Christ.
And not Satan alone, but all the evils which constitute his stock-in-trade of deceitful and malicious methods by which he deceived and enslaved the fallen race will be vanquished. Sickness and pain and sorrow will be destroyed, and death itself will die.
This is the blessed assurance given us in one of the final promises God caused to be recorded in His sacred Word. It reads:
“And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Write, for these words are true, and faithful.”—Revelation 21:4.