| News and Views | July 1945 |
The Coming World Dictator
YES, there is to be a new world! Practically everybody knows that! Some want it, while others fear it. More than two thousand years ago the Bible foretold that there would be a new world, and described the form of government by which it would be ruled. If the people had faith in what the Scriptures forecast concerning the governmental arrangements of the new world, none would fear it, but, on the contrary, all would look forward longingly to its establishment, for the Scriptures declare that it will be “the desire of all nations.”—Haggai 2:7
For long and weary years, by blood and sweat and tears, the United Nations have struggled to stamp out fascism and establish democracy. Yet, even now, millions fear that fascism still lives, and that it will continue to blight the happiness of the human race. Other millions fear that a chaotic, starving Europe may prove to be fertile breeding-ground for other forms of dictatorship, which at an opportune time might deal a more deadly body blow to civilization than fascism has done. No doubt many will recall that Sir Anthony Eden said of the San Francisco conference that it could well be the world’s last chance to save civilization.
Suppose the world’s worst fears are realized, what then? Would that mean that Christianity has failed? If, out of the aftermath of hatred and chaos which follows the second global struggle in one generation, there is inflicted upon the nations a third devastating conflict, will it be possible for any remnant of civilization to survive, or has man reached his extremity, which shortly will become God’s opportunity to intervene on behalf of the people?
The Scriptures assure us that the time is near when God will intervene and take over the rulership of mankind, and that only thus will the human race be saved from the terrible results of sin and selfishness. For more than nineteen centuries Christians have been praying for divine intervention every time they have repeated the Lord’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10) In effect, this is a prayer for the establishment of a divine dictatorship over the affairs of men.
It will not, however, be the kind of dictatorship that has caused so much suffering in the world in recent years—far from it! Nevertheless, the laws which will operate under the rulership of Christ will be rigidly enforced. But they will be laws of justice, righteousness, and love. It will be a dictatorship of love instead of hate, and under its administration the people will be educated in the principles of justice, and mercy, and love.
The Kingdom is designed, for one thing, to prepare the people for true democracy. A fitting illustration of this is the manner in which the United Nations have decided to occupy and rule over defeated Germany. It is for the stated purpose of re-educating and rehabilitating the people, and thus preparing them for the proper exercise of self-government.
Man’s Oppression
Six thousand years ago, because of man’s disobedience to divine law, the human race came under the cruel and oppressive domination of sin and death. Throughout all the ages since, the master mind of Satan has continued to concoct and disseminate among the people malicious deceptions concerning God and righteousness. Because man disobeyed God’s law, he lost divine favor and guidance and protection. He was left to his own devices, and subject to the misguiding influences of Satan. And now, after six thousand years of effort to manage his own affairs, the horrible tragedies which we of this generation have witnessed bear grim testimony to the miserable failure man has made.
One of the reasons the antediluvian world came to an end was man’s failure in government. The Scriptures declare that the imaginations of men’s hearts were evil continually and that the earth was filled with violence. Both sacred and secular history reveal that in all the ages since the flood, selfishness, hatred, and violence have characterized man’s efforts to manage his own affairs. Civilizations have arisen, and have flourished for a time, only to crumble and fall under the weight of selfishness.
It was confidently expected by modern statesmen and lawmakers that the increased knowledge and advantages of our day would enable so-called Christian civilization to endure. Now it has been demonstrated that knowledge, manifested through science and invention, has served merely to implement human selfishness, and thus to hasten the destruction of a world. Education without God has not changed the hearts of men, except to increase their desires for the bounties of the earth which have for so long been denied to all but the few.
God’s Love
Despite man’s selfishness, however, the Scriptures assure us that God loves the people. His love was manifested by sending Jesus into the world to be man’s Redeemer. This was the first step toward the liberation of a people who had become enslaved by the great taskmaster of sin and death. By the time Jesus came into the world, man had sunk so deep into sin, and had become so depraved, that instead of appreciating the purpose of His coming, they hated Him, and ultimately put Him to death.
Yes, the very people whom Jesus came to liberate considered Him to be an enemy, and crucified Him. But this serves to illustrate the utter inability of man to extricate himself from the slavery which had resulted from his own wrongdoing, because it reveals the great depth of sin into which the world had sunk.
In addition to the increasing selfishness of the human race which has resulted from the fall into sin and death, Satan, the great archenemy of God and the people, has continued his nefarious influence among the nations. Jesus referred to Satan as being a murderer from the beginning, and also designated him the father of lies. (John 8:44) Through his lying propaganda he has maligned God, and deceived all nations with respect to the truth of God’s Word and the righteous standards of love which it advocates.
In II Corinthians 4:4 the Apostle Paul declares that Satan is the god of this world—the world which is now coming to an end. The apostle asserts, furthermore, that Satan has blinded the minds of the people, which means that under his deceitful and malicious influence the world has been led away from God and from righteousness. As whole nations today, under the influence of propaganda, have been led to believe lies concerning other nations, so all mankind, through the deceitful and lying propaganda of Satan, have been made to believe lies concerning God and those who serve Him. As an outstanding illustration of this, we mention two statements that were made to our first parents in the Garden of Eden. God told them that they would die if they disobeyed His law. Speaking through the serpent, Satan, the father of lies, said to Mother Eve, “Ye shall not surely die.” (Gen. 3:4) Practically the whole world has believed Satan, both heathendom and so-called Christendom asserting that “there is no death.”
God Has Been Slandered
One of the slanders against God, which is based upon Satan’s lie concerning death, is the fiendish teaching of eternal torture for the unsaved. The world has been shocked by the reports of cruel atrocities perpetrated in the name of fascism. Many of these reports have been illustrated by photographic evidence revealing the gruesome details of torture inflicted against the alleged enemies of fascism.
However, the cruelties thus brought to light are as nothing compared to those which God has been charged with inflicting upon countless millions of the human race after death, and which the creeds have claimed will continue throughout the endless ages of eternity. The illustrations portraying the posthumous tortures inflicted upon the people by God, as set forth in Dante’s Inferno, come far short of what the reality of those tortures is alleged to be. If this God-dishonoring teaching were true, think of the grim photographs news reporters might send back from the eternal regions of the damned—God’s concentration camp.”
In addition to the perverted viewpoint of the people engendered by Satan’s lying propaganda, the human race has continued to succumb to the ravages of sin and disease; and from these, also, the peoples are to be delivered through the administration of the Kingdom of Christ.
The liberation of the peoples of the world from the slavery of sin and death is, however, to be more far-reaching than the proposed liberation of the peoples of Europe. In order for the captives of death to be set free, it was necessary not only that Jesus should come to earth, but that He Himself should go into death, dying as man’s Redeemer. Thus, while the people for whom Christ died themselves put him to death, in the great economy of God provision is made for the release of Death’s prisoners.
Christ died as the Redeemer of the world more than nineteen centuries ago, but the people are still enslaved by sin and death. This is because the world still awaits the occupational forces of Christ’s Kingdom. Up until the present time God has merely been mobilizing these Kingdom agencies, which in answer to our prayer, “Thy Kingdom come,” are to establish divine control over the human race.
Christ and the Church to Rule
The Bible reveals that Jesus, who is to be King of kings and Lord of lords in God’s new world, will be the great Leader of all the forces of emancipation. The Scriptures also declare that His faithful followers, who suffer and die with Him, are to live and reign with Him in His Kingdom. They are His “joint-heirs” and will, together with Him, reign on the earth for a thousand years.—Rev. 5:10; 20:4,6
In the 2nd Psalm, verses 8 and 9, there is a prophecy which indicates that Christ inherits the rulership of all nations, and is to take possession of “the uttermost parts of the earth.” This prophecy declares that Christ, whom it depicts as the Son of Jehovah, will rule or shepherd the nations with a rod of iron. Verses 10, 11 and 12 of the Psalm read: “Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.”
The expressions, “Be instructed, ye judges of the earth,” “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,” and “Blessed are they that put their trust in Him,” denote that the rulership of Christ, while it will be stern and unyielding, like a “rod of iron,” will embody a program of instruction designed to educate the people in the knowledge of God and His love, with the object of bringing about their free will co-operation, and obedience thereto.
And what a blessed thing it will be when, as the prophet declares, all the people shall have learned to put their trust in God! This is one of the great objectives of the thousand-year reign of Christ. Only by trust in divine wisdom, and the acceptance of the provisions of divine mercy through Christ by obedience to the laws of His Kingdom, will the people be prepared ultimately to rule themselves in the spirit of justice and love toward one another.
People Now Lack Faith
As yet, however, the peoples of the world are not willing to put their trust in God. The nations still assemble themselves together to devise plans of their own, as foretold in the 2nd Psalm. They have not learned, despite the tragic evidence of human failure on every hand, that they are imagining vain things. But as human plans continue to fail, there will come a time, not long hence, we trust, when the world will seek help from God. Of this we are assured by the prophet, who declares, “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord Shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.”—Micah 4:1
The prophecy of Daniel (2:35,44,45) identifies the mountain of the Lord as His Kingdom. Hence, when the Prophet Micah writes that “the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains,” He means that the Kingdom, made up of God’s ruling house of sons, will be established as a dominating government, ruling over all the nations of the earth.
The Prophet Micah continues: “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
The term “Zion” is one which is used in the Scriptures to symbolize Christ’s Kingdom, particularly the spiritual phase of the Messianic rulership. In the 2nd Psalm, where we read that Christ will rule the nations with a rod of iron, Jehovah says concerning Him, “I have set My King upon My holy hill of Zion.” In Revelation 14:1, 144,000 followers of Christ are shown to be on mount Zion with Him. In the last verse of Obadiah’s prophecy, we are told that “saviors shall come up on mount Zion,” and that then “the Kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”
How Law Goes Forth From Zion
Thus, when we read that the law shall go forth of Zion, we are to understand it as meaning that from Christ and His church will emanate the authority by which the nations and peoples of the world will be controlled during the thousand years of His reign.
While the rulership of “Zion”—Christ and His church—will be spiritual and invisible to men, it will have human representatives. This human phase of the Messianic Kingdom is symbolized in the prophecy of Micah as Jerusalem. Hence we read that “the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord [the educational program based upon that law] from Jerusalem.”
The tremendous responsibility of representing the divine Christ among men will not, however, be entrusted to selfish and scheming politicians, for the Scriptures reveal that God intends to resurrect the ancient prophets and other faithful ones of the past, to occupy the key positions of the visible government throughout the world. These ancient worthy ones were long considered the fathers of Israel, but they are to become the children of The Christ, and as such will be made “princes in all the earth.”—Psalm 45:16
The 46th Psalm portrays the transitional period in which we are now living—the time during which ‘Satan’s world is being destroyed, and Christ’s Kingdom is being established. The 47th Psalm reveals further details concerning the operation of that Kingdom. Verses 2 and 3 read: “For the Lord Most High … is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.” Verses 8 and 9 of this reassuring prophecy read: “God reigneth over the heathen [nations]: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted.”
“The Shields of the Earth”
When we read that the “shields of the earth belong unto God,” we are to understand it as meaning that divine protection becomes operative over the people—that a divine Kingdom has been established, operating through the princes of the earth, who will function as the representatives of the divine Christ. Under this arrangement, all the enemies of God and of righteousness are to be subdued and destroyed, even as the prophet declares. (Psalm 47:3) The Apostle Paul affirms this great truth concerning the Kingdom of Christ, telling us that He must reign until He hath put all enemies under His feet, and that the last enemy to be destroyed is death.—I Cor. 15:25,26
Yes, the Kingdom of Christ, while it will bring rich blessings of peace, and joy, and life to all who, under its beneficent influences, learn to put their trust in God, will at the same time be an agency of destruction to blot out everything in opposition to God, to righteousness, and to the eternal well-being of God’s creatures. Even death itself, according to the apostle, is to be destroyed. The Lord Jesus confirms this great truth through the Apostle John, saying that “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”—Rev. 21:4
To come back to the prophecy of Micah, chapter 4, after telling us that “the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem,” the prophet asserts that the Lord “shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar.” This judgment of the people evidently embraces a program of education, for we read in Isaiah 26:9 that when God’s “judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” There may be some who willfully will continue to follow their selfish ways. The prophet indicates this when he says, “Let favor be shewed to the wicked, yet lie will not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.”—Isa. 26:10
The People Judged
From this Scripture we learn that the judgments of the Lord are in reality a manifestation of His favor to the people, but that some in that land of uprightness, when Christ’s Kingdom is ruling over the nations, will insist upon dealing unjustly, not recognizing the righteousness and majesty of the Lord and His ways. This coming period during which the people will be re-educated and rehabilitated is described by the Apostle Peter as “times of restitution of all things,” and he declares that those who will not then obey the Kingdom laws shall be destroyed from among the people.—Acts 3:19-23
Learning Righteousness
Much is involved in the prophetic statement concerning the work of the Kingdom age, describing it as that of learning righteousness. The Prophet Micah, in the passage under consideration, tells us that when the people learn the Lord’s ways “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
This shows clearly that the power of Christ’s Kingdom by which the people are to be controlled is not to be a military power. It shows, furthermore, that the re-education of the people during that period of rehabilitation will eradicate from their minds the un-Christian philosophy that in order to have peace the nations must be prepared for war. As they learn of God’s ways, they will “learn war” no more.
Another reassuring prophecy portraying the work of re-educating the people during the time of Christ’s Kingdom is that of Isaiah 28:16,17. In verse 16 the Lord says, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.” This is another reference to the fact that Christ has been exalted to a governmental position in God’s Zion—the spiritual phase of His Kingdom. He is referred to as a stone that has been tried, or tested.
The testing of Jesus revealed Him as loving righteousness and hating iniquity. (Psalm 45:7; Heb. 1:9) Because such a tested one is to be the Chief Executive in the Kingdom of God, the 17th verse of Isaiah’s prophecy reads, “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.”
Water is generally used in the Scriptures as a symbol of truth, and the life-giving blessings of the truth. The impact of the truth upon the people during the time of Christ’s Kingdom will be as hail that will sweep away the refuge of lies which have been foisted upon the people throughout all the centuries by Satan and his cohorts. Justice, and righteousness, and love will be exalted in the hearts and minds of the people, while injustice, unrighteousness, and hate will no longer find refuge in the lying propaganda of Satan.
God’s Plan Will Not Fail
Most reassuring in connection with these many promises of blessings to be dispensed to a sin-sick and dying world is the guarantee that they will be fulfilled. Isaiah 9:7 declares that “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Thank God, the work of re-education and rehabilitation of the world promised by Him does not depend upon the feeble efforts of man! Man has failed. Now the time is near when the divine Christ will take over, and through His righteous representatives, will administer the affairs of the world for a thousand years, until the people learn righteousness.
During the coming thousand years of reconstruction, the people will not be given a voice in government. The government to be established by Christ will be “for the people” but not “by the people”—not until all mankind has been re-educated, and the law of God written in their minds and hearts, so that their choice shall be God’s will for them. In the interim, the righteous laws of Christ’s Kingdom will be rigidly enforced. Those who obey the laws will be protected. Those who do not obey will be disciplined, and if they fail by this means to learn righteousness and continue willfully to disobey, will be destroyed.
Obviously, a work of such far-reaching magnitude will require an entire age, especially in that it will involve the awakening of the dead, and their education in righteousness. But when this work shall have been completed at the end of that age, then the mediatorial and dictatorial rulership of Christ will come to an end, having accomplished its purpose—that laudable purpose of destroying all the enemies of God, of truth, of righteousness, including that great enemy of man, Death.
A World Republic
The Apostle Paul declares that then Christ will turn over the Kingdom to His Father, the Creator of heaven and earth. (I Cor. 15:24-28) This means that mankind will have been restored to the original standing with and before God, enjoyed by our first parents before they transgressed God’s law. To them God said, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.”—Gen. 1:28
He authorized them to have dominion over the earth and the lower creation. It was never the divine purpose that God’s human creatures should rule over one another, but it was His will that they should, together, rule over the earth. That dominion was forfeited by sin, but through the redemptive program centered in Christ, and by means of His thousand-year reign of reconstruction, the ability to exercise that dominion will have been regained by the people.
It will be then that those who shall have learned righteousness during the Kingdom period will have said to them, as foretold by Jesus, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”—Matthew 25:34
Then, having been restored to perfection, with the law of God written in their hearts as foretold by the prophet (Jer. 31:33), the people will be properly qualified to exercise the democratic method of arranging their affairs co-operatively for the common good. Undoubtedly, throughout the ages of glory to follow, there will be what may properly be called a pure republic established worldwide, a republic in which the people will have complete freedom of choice because they will have learned to choose the right.
Then the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, and under the blessed influence of that knowledge, the people will enjoy divine favor, and be blessed with everlasting peace and life because they will have been restored to at-one-ment with God, having learned the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the desirability of righteousness.