| Highlights of Dawn | April 1958 |
Peace Through Christ’s Kingdom
“Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” —Isaiah 9:7
WARS have long plagued the human race. The history of the world has been written in human blood. Wars increase, both in the number of people involved, and in their power to destroy. In this space age there is real cause to fear the destruction through another World War. Will there ever be peace?
Universal and lasting peace ultimately will be established in the earth, but it will not come by human efforts, nor will it be induced by mutual fear of destruction, nor, by armament races. It will be established by the kingdom of Christ, and the kingdom of Christ will be a world-wide government which will exercise actual control in the affairs of men. Those who believe the promises of the Bible pertaining to the coming of Christ’s kingdom can look into the future with a great deal of optimism.
The Bible says that “the desire of all nations shall come,” and we know that fundamentally all nations of the earth desire peace. (Haggai 2:7) However, even in connection with the prophecies of the Bible there is a difference of opinion. Some quote Jesus’ statement that there shall be “wars and rumors of wars,” and add to it his words, “then shall the end come,” as proof that wars will continue on this earth until the world comes to an end, which to these students means the destruction of the earth and the end of all human experience.—Matt. 24:6,14
When Jesus spoke of “wars and rumors of wars” it was in answer to questions asked him by his disciples pertaining to the time of his return and the end of the age. “What shall be the sign of thy coming,” they asked, “and of the end of the world?” (Matt. 24:3) The Common Version translation of the disciples’ questions is misleading, for it mistranslated the Greek words parousia and aion used in the text. With these words properly translated the questions are, “What shall be the sign of thy presence, and of the end of the age?”
When Jesus said that there would be “wars and rumors of wars,” after which the end would come, he simply meant that the interim between his first and second advents would be characterized by intermittent wars, and that this would continue right down to the end of the age. But he did not mean that the end of the age would mean the destruction of the earth, nor the end of all human experience on the earth; for, as the prophecies of the Bible point out, the end of the age of “wars and rumors of wars” marks the beginning of a new age, the age during which Christ’s kingdom will be the controlling factor in the affairs of men. And, as our text declares, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”
Human Efforts Fail
While the whole world longs for peace, most people, even Christians, think that the only peace which will ever be realized will come as the result of human efforts. And, many efforts are being made to bring peace to the world. There are various peace “fronts,” we might call them, and the hope of those promoting each of these is that the “uneasy peace” of today will tomorrow be transformed into a permanent peace.
Sir Winston Churchill has used the expression, “peace by mutual fear.” His idea is that we should build up a great stockpile of munitions, and that the other great nations should do the same. Thus with all the nations realizing the terrible destruction that would be wrought by war, there would be a stalemate of fear resulting in peace. This is Sir Winston’s theory of “peace by mutual fear.”
Actually, of course, “peace by mutual fear” is not a new idea. This idea is a “front” that has been utilized throughout the centuries. It is merely that Sir Winston has dressed it in different phraseology. Peace through mutual fear is merely another way of saying peace through a “balance of power.” Many will remember the “Munich crisis” of 1938, when the Four Power Pact was formed, and Neville Chamberlain, then Prime Minister of Great Britain, flew back to England from Munich and, waving a peace document in the air as he alighted from his plane, announced that peace had been saved for our time. This new pact was but a new balancing of power with the age-old belief that one would be afraid to attack the other.
But this “fear pact” did not save the peace for our time, as Mr. Chamberlain so enthusiastically announced. Within a year the much feared second World War broke out in all its fury, which led to the destruction of cities and a terrible blood-letting throughout Europe and much of Asia and the Orient. The fear of war did not prevent the outbreak of war. It never has and it never will!
Another vague hope for peace is in the delaying action brought about by the great armament race. Thus far this is causing a stalemate due to the fact that neither of the great powers on the opposite sides of the Iron Curtain can be quite sure that it has a superiority in arms—whether hydrogen bombs, ballistic missiles or sputniks. But in this also the people of the world are being lulled into a false sense of security. Armament races have always led to war.
Then there is the hope that the United Nations will in some manner find a way to peace. Indeed, the United Nations was formed for the very purpose of maintaining peace. Posted at the UN headquarters, for all to see, is the Scripture text, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”—Micah 4:1-4
The United Nations is, of course, a powerful organization, and it is hoped that through its influence for good the nations of earth will actually see the advantages of not going to war. The purpose is good, and the motive doubtless sincere, but will this particular “peace front” really result in peace? Certainly the United Nations is, in certain areas of human relationship, accomplishing a great deal of good. It is helping to build up some of the backward nations of earth, especially in the fields of medicine and hygiene, and in other respects which contribute to human well-being and happiness. But can the UN keep the peace?
Already, in the matter of the political maneuvering of the great nations of earth, the UN has proved itself to be almost without power. The veto in the Security Council means that atheistic Russia can prevent what other nations may wish to accomplish toward peace through the United Nations. This means that the real moves on the international diplomatic checker-board are being made outside of the UN. And outside of this world organization there is also NATO—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—and the Bagdad Pact. These are simply manifestations of the “peace through fear” policy, and cannot and will not, in the long run, prevent war.
The lesson of history is that armament races and balances of power do not prevent war. With fallen human selfishness dictating the policies of nations, the only hope for peace is in the establishment of an authority in the earth powerful enough to impose laws of justice and righteousness which transcend the petty jealousies and selfish ambitions of individual nations. Such an authority cannot stem from any existing nation or government of earth. Only the kingdom of God is capable of exercising such an authority and of executing justice and righteousness in all the earth.—Zech. 14:9
But in this many earnest students of the Bible have failed to realize that in the outworking of the divine plan there is to be an actual government of righteousness established in the earth, a government that will effectively rule the nations and assure peace and happiness to all mankind. Despite all the marvelous references in both the Old and New Testaments to this “kingdom” which is to rule from “sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth,” many insist that God’s kingdom is merely a righteous spirit, or disposition, in the hearts of individuals.—Ps. 72:8
This false concept of the kingdom is based on the expression, “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21) These are purported to be the words of Jesus, but they are a faulty translation of what he actually said. The Pharisees had asked Jesus “when the kingdom of God should come.” Replying, he said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation [marginal translation reads, ‘with outward show’]: neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you [marginal translation reads, ‘among you’].”—Luke 17:20,21
A more exact translation of this statement would be, “The King is among you.” This brings it into harmony with the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees.
The Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the great King of the Old Testament prophecies. From their standpoint, how could he set up a kingdom in opposition to Rome, liberate Israel, and extend peace and joy to all nations? He had no army. His friends were not people of importance. What could embarrass him more than to be asked just when he expected to set up his kingdom?
Jesus knew what was in their hearts and answered accordingly. The kingdom of God, he explained, was not to come into power in the manner of other kingdoms or governments. There would be no outward show—no armies, no wars of conquest, and no display of armament. As a matter of fact, as he pointed out, the King to be in this kingdom was even then in their midst, although they refused to believe it. Jesus’ work at his first advent was related to his future kingdom, but no soldiers were needed to accomplish it.
On the face of it, the expression, “The kingdom of God is within you” could not be true, for Jesus was talking to the Pharisees whom he had styled hypocrites, whited sepulchres, children of the Devil. (Matt. 23:27; John 8:13,44) How could the kingdom of God be within them? It was not, and later Jesus cast them off from ever having any share in the rulership of his kingdom.
Not of This Order
Another statement of Jesus which also has been greatly misunderstood is the one he made to Pilate, when he said, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36) This has been taken by many to mean that all the promises of God pertaining to a kingdom are to be fulfilled in the experiences of Jesus’ followers when they die and go to heaven. After all, say these, the kingdom promised in the Bible has nothing to do with this world of sin, because Jesus said so.
The difficulty here lies in the translator’s use of the word “world” to translate the Greek word kosmos, which means order or arrangement of things. What Jesus said was that his kingdom was not of this present order of society. The Bible reveals that there are three “worlds” or social arrangements in the plan of God. The kingdom social order is the one which follows the present one. The new social order is ushered in by the return of Christ, at his second advent. It is then that his kingdom is established. It is then that the “government shall be upon his shoulder.” It is then that the promise will be fulfilled, “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”—Isa. 9:6,7
The disciples at first did not understand this, so Jesus related a parable to illustrate it, a parable concerning a certain nobleman, which was himself, who went into a far country to receive a kingdom, and to return. (Luke 19:12) In his introduction to this parable Luke explains that Jesus related it because his disciples thought that his kingdom “should immediately appear.”—vs. 11
All of Jesus’ teachings were related directly or indirectly to God’s promised kingdom. They do not all pertain to the blessings which will reach mankind through the agencies of that kingdom. Many of them relate to various aspects of preparation for it. Jesus’ death as man’s Redeemer is in this category, for the divine plan is that the Messiah of promise was not to rule over a dying race, but a race redeemed from death, and to each individual of which there could thus be offered the opportunity, upon conditions of obedience, to live forever.
The disciples of Christ are offered the opportunity of reigning with him if they are willing to suffer and die with him. (II Tim. 2:11,12) The Gospel call to those willing to accept these terms of discipleship has been going out during the entire age since the first advent, and this has been in preparation for the kingdom. Many of Jesus’ parables relate to this Gospel-age work, being illustrative from one standpoint or another of the joys, blessings difficulties, and trials of these “children of the kingdom.”—Matt. 13:38
Not understanding the plan of God, it was easy to conclude that all the kingdom promises of the Bible related thereto simply referred to the enjoyment of a home in heaven for all eternity; for there are many heavenly, or spiritual, promises associated with the theme of the kingdom. However, these promises are to those called to be rulers in that kingdom, and not to its subjects. When Jesus the “King of kings” was raised from the dead, he was highly exalted to the divine nature, having given his flesh for the life of the world; and the promise is that those who will live and reign with him in his kingdom will be made like him, and share his heavenly home and nature.—John 6:51; I John 3:2,3
These spiritual rulers in the kingdom of God will have human representatives. The religious rulers of Israel thought they were to represent God in his kingdom, and they could have, had they qualified through humility and obedience. These were in line to be the “children of the kingdom,” but when the kingdom is established they will discover that through unfaithfulness they forfeited the right to any official position therein. Jesus explained this, saying, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”—Luke 13:28,29
The expression “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is descriptive of the chagrin and disappointment to be experienced by those who, while once in line to be used in the kingdom, find, when they are raised from the dead, that this desired position is occupied by “Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets,” who also then will be raised from the dead in what the Apostle Paul speaks of as a “better resurrection.”—Heb. 11:35,40
These restored worthies of the ancient past are prophetically referred to in Psalm 45:16 as those who will be made “princes in all the earth.” We might speak of them as the earthly phase of Christ’s kingdom, which will represent and operate in conjunction with its spiritual phase, made up of the glorified Jesus and his faithful followers who, in the “first resurrection,” are exalted to live and reign with him.
These two phases of the kingdom of Christ are symbolically described in Micah 4:1-4 as “Zion”—the spiritual—and “Jerusalem,” the human, or earthly. This prophecy also refers to Jesus and his followers, the “sons of God,” as the ruling “house of the Lord,” symbolized in this prophecy as the “mountain” [kingdom] of the Lord. The prophecy reads:
“In the last days [of the Gospel age] 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 [controlling all nations, large and small]; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and 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. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and 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. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.”
Thus will peace come to mankind through Christ’s world government. It will not be a peace through mutual fear, but a peace so complete and enduring that there will be freedom from fear—for none “shall make them afraid.” But peace alone, even peace with economic security as symbolized in this prophecy by the idea of dwelling under vine and fig tree, would not be wholly satisfactory. Even with these much desired and sought-after blessings attained, there would still be sickness and death. However, another Old Testament prophecy in which a “mountain” is used to symbolize Christ’s kingdom, assures us that even death is to be destroyed. We quote:
“In this mountain [kingdom] shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering [symbolic of superstition and ignorance of the true God] cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—Isa. 25:6-9
What more could we ask? And how apparent it is that these inspiring kingdom promises mean more—so much more—than merely a righteous sentiment in the hearts of individuals, that they describe a literal and genuine government which will rule the world in righteousness, bringing peace and health and life to all mankind. (Isa. 26:9) It will be the rulership of this government that will bring the answer to the Christian’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”—Matt. 6:10