| Highlights of Dawn | December 1971 |
JESUS,
The Only Hope for a Dying World
“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 Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” —Isaiah 9:6,7
ONE of the measures that is used to determine a nation’s economic well-being is Gross National Product (GNP). GNP is the total value of all goods and services produced in one year as stated in the unit of currency of any given country. The GNP of the United States in 1948 was in the area of two hundred fifty billion dollars. By the year 1960 this had roughly doubled to about five hundred billion dollars. And today it is estimated that it has again doubled to something over one thousand billion dollars.
When these figures are reduced to per capita personal income, which is the amount of income for each person in the nation, we find the same remarkable rise. The income for each person in the United States in 1948 was $1,400; in 1960 it was $2,200; and at the present time it is estimated at about $4,000. Even after allowing for the effects of inflation it is evident that, as a whole, the nation has greatly prospered in these last decades, although unhappily, this overall prosperity has not been shared evenly by all the people.
This prosperity in things material is evident on every side. In the cities, glittering skyscrapers climb ever higher into the skies to dwarf their neighbors. Sparkling new airports dot the countryside, serving multitudes of passengers in luxurious, giant-sized airplanes. Four, six, and eight-lane interstate highways slice farms and forests into ever smaller segments, in a vain struggle to accommodate the mounting millions of automobiles streaming from Detroit’s assembly lines.
How different was life a short generation or two ago! Our grandparents rose before dawn—he to start the farm chores, or perhaps to trudge, rain or shine, to his nine or ten-hour day of work in a grimy factory or office, for six days a week; she to do the cooking, scrubbing, sweeping, ironing, baking, canning, fetching of water, stoking of fires, filling the oil lamps and trimming the wicks.
But not so today! The man is comfortably transported to his seven-hour stint in an office or factory made pleasant with air conditioning, background music, and coffee breaks. His wife has an uncomplaining, tireless servant called electricity; at the touch of a button it lights and warms, or cools, the house; it eliminates most of the drudgery of washing and drying her dishes and clothes; it operates her electric stove, her vacuum cleaner, her air conditioner, her can opener, and even brushes her teeth if she wishes. And of course one could go on and on in this vein.
Not Source of Happiness
If happiness and personal fulfillment and peace of heart and mind could be measured by the soaring figures of Gross National Product, by the number of new dwellings, new automobiles, new factories, new superhighways produced each year; by the rise in kilowatt hours of energy consumed year by year, by the growing number of dish-washers, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and two and three-car garages in use, then, truly, we should be a happy people.
But we are not. For the true measure of the worth and durability of a civilization is not in its material wealth, but rather it is in its mental, moral, and ethical well-being. It is in the degree of its possession of those “old-fashioned” virtues of honesty, trustworthiness, kindness. It is in the measure of its love for God, for one’s neighbor, for righteousness, for sharing. And this, the only real foundation for happiness and peace within and between peoples and nations, is passing away. It was thus with God’s ancient people Israel; when they followed God’s righteous commandments and precepts they had God’s favor; when they departed from them, they fell on difficult times. And from these righteous standards the world, like Israel of old, has largely departed, and shall in due time reap a fitting reward.
The shiny, truly marvelous products of this day tend to hide from our mental view the deterioration that is relentlessly proceeding within the rotting social framework, much as the destructive work of the termite is indiscernible to the eye until the whole rotted structure finally totters and falls to the ground. Man is striving mightily to hold his patchwork civilization together; but as the symptoms of a fatal disease may be temporarily relieved without delaying the ultimate outcome, so with a dying world. Palliatives, be they ever so generously administered, will not cure. What is needed, but not being used, is surgery to remove the root cause of the evil, which is selfishness.
A Dying World
The wonderful material things of the present world civilization are but the trappings of a perishing, plastic prosperity. For the world is, indeed, sick and dying. Half a dozen wars or near-wars are progressing or threatening in various parts of the earth. Oddly, a number of these have religious, as well as economic and political, overtones: in North Ireland it is Catholic against Protestant; in the Mid-east, Jew against Arab; and in Pakistan, Hindu against Moslem.
The peoples of some of those new nations that in recent years have thrown off the shackles of colonialism are finding life not much different or much better (and sometimes worse) than it was under their former lords. Seemingly, they have merely exchanged old masters for new.
Even those who have shared most favorably in the bounties of recent years seem not to have been made happy thereby. The spirit of discontent, not of joy and peace, seems to be abroad in the earth. Here at home there is disagreement about the war in Vietnam; there is anger and unhappiness because of the effects of inflation and unemployment, and with wage and price controls; there are confrontations between whites and blacks, young and old, management and labor; there is unrest and open revolt even in our prisons. Paradoxically, all this contention exists in the midst of relative plenty, in a land of great individual freedom.
Crime Increases
We are regularly informed that corruption, homicides, stealing, and crimes of every variety are still increasing. Social diseases, once believed well in hand and virtually banished, are once again escalating alarmingly, to the dismay of health authorities. Mental institutions are filled to overflowing, and must deny admission to others seeking their help. These evil reports have become so routine and commonplace that one’s sensibility to shock tends eventually to become dulled.
Moral permissiveness is rampant throughout the world. With many, the notion of giving a solid day’s work for a day’s pay is almost extinct, dedication to good works is considered old-fogyish, honesty akin to idiocy. For faith in God, in the Bible, and in the virtues which it teaches have also largely passed away. These are indications that we are at the end of the age, for Jesus told the disciples that at that time lawlessness, or vice, would abound.—Matt. 24:12, Diaglott
True, these conditions alone would not prove that we are at the end of the age, for down through the centuries there have been recurring periods when similar conditions have flourished and waned. There have been wars almost without ceasing between nations. Man has perpetrated cruelties and injustices upon his fellow man since time immemorial. Robberies, murders, human bondage, immorality have marred man’s existence since the initial entry into the world of sin, and death because of sin.
“Tribulation”
But the Lord additionally informed us that at that time there would also be great tribulation, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt. 24:21) Jesus quotes this prophecy of the end of the age from Daniel, who further stated that this time would be marked by an increase of knowledge, and by a great increase in travel and communication (running to and fro). (Dan. 12:1-4) It is the sum of these things, taken together, that distinguishes the times in which we are living as unparalleled in the annals of man.
Surely, one need not labor the point that we are in a time of great and unprecedented increase of knowledge; indeed, it is this fact that largely explains the countless inventions that have not only relieved mankind of so much drudgery, but have also supplied the potential for man’s moral and physical destruction. Also, man is running about today in a manner and to a degree never before possible until the advent of automobiles and jet planes. And the round-the-clock threat of a nuclear holocaust with the potential of destroying all civilization is certainly peculiar to the present time. It is the unprecedented conjunction of all these various factors that marks the present time as the foretold end of the age.
Sober-minded people in various stations of life are aware of the singularity of our day. One serious student of the national scene recently expressed the thought that present conditions must lead inevitably either to anarchy or to dictatorship, with the not-too-happy hope that it be the latter, if a choice must be made. An official of the United Nations, viewing the deplorable state of the world and the bitter contention dividing its members, stated that the only hope for salvaging the world lies in strengthening the UN organization.
The Scriptures partly agree with these thoughts. They agree to the need of a dictator to bring order and justice and happiness to this presently evil world. They agree to the need of a world government with power to enforce the just edicts of that dictator. But the Scriptures tell us that it will not be a human dictator, nor will it be a human organization, that will accomplish these much-desired and longed-for ends. The Dictator will be King Jesus, and the world-wide, all-powerful government will be the kingdom of God.
A New Ruler
The Heavenly Father long ago published this glad news through the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “For 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 Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” What a marvelous message for a dying world! For it is this Jesus who is the hope, and the only hope, of mankind for life, happiness, and peace.
This future King was born almost two thousand years ago in a lowly manger. His birth was announced to the shepherds as “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10,11) Unlike most other kings of earth, who demand tribute and even life from their subjects, King Jesus voluntarily laid down his own life, in order to give life to his people. He then “went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” (Luke 19:12) He received that kingdom when he was raised from the grave by the power of God, and now, endued with all power, he has returned to establish his kingdom in the earth, and to bestow the blessings of its beneficent rule upon all mankind.—Matt. 28:18; Rev. 21:1-5
The first order of business of this World Dictator is the removal of this present evil world, or world social order, with all its wicked devices. This will be accomplished in a period of time described in the Scriptures as “the day of the Lord [Jehovah].” “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord [Jehovah] is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.”—Isa. 13:6
The prophet goes on to explain why the Lord sends this destruction upon the world. “I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” (Isa. 13:11) We are also told how this will affect the hearts of men. “Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth.”—Isa. 13:7,8
Nations Distressed
Jesus described this time as being “days of vengeance,” When there would be “upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity [Greek, no way out]; the [human] sea and waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:25,26) We believe we are now in the time thus scripturally described as the day of Jehovah, which precedes the establishment in the earth of God’s righteous kingdom. The hearts of many today are surely afraid, and filled with perplexity, as they see no escape from the many problems besetting the world.
As that day proceeds to its Armageddon climax, the troubles upon the world will multiply. “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan; the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of water are dried up, and the fir hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”—Joel 1:15-20
The Apostle Peter also calls our attention to this same time in man’s history. He says, “The day of the Lord [Jehovah] will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”—II Pet. 3:10
A Righteous Rulership
Following the foretold destruction of this present ungodly social order, Peter tells us of the coming of a new heavens and a new earth “wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (II Pet. 3:13) That will be the time for that promised heavenly kingdom under the rulership of King Jesus, when “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” With him will be his faithful followers, who, brought forth from death, will reign with him for the blessing of all the families of the earth.
The Prophet Isaiah much earlier had announced the coming of this righteous kingdom to be ruled over by Jesus, the antitypical David: “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.”—Isa. 9:7
In this kingdom Jesus will be “The everlasting Father.” He came into the world so that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) He gave himself a ransom for ALL, and in order for ALL to receive the promised blessings of life, all the dead will have to be resurrected from the grave. “The hour is coming,” Jesus said, “when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”—John 5:25
Life for the World
Peter speaks of this kingdom period as “times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:21) All who then hear, or heed, the voice of that Prophet shall be granted everlasting life by Jesus, for “as the Father is himself the source of life, in the same way he has made his Son to be the source of life.” (John 5:26, N.T. in Gr. & Eng.; NEB) To all of restored mankind, Jesus will indeed be a life-giver, the everlasting Father.
In that kingdom, Jesus will also be called the “Wonderful Counselor.” We are told that “an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those; the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.” (Isa. 35:8) As a shepherd watching tenderly over his sheep, our Lord will lovingly and patiently instruct, guide, and assist each one desiring to come back into harmony with their Heavenly Father, and to gain everlasting life here on earth. As their Mediator between God and men, as their Wonderful Counselor, his eye will be ever watchful, his ear ever open to their cry, that all whose hearts are right may attain to perfect, everlasting life; for this, indeed, is the whole purpose of God’s plan of salvation, and of Jesus’ coming to earth to die on the cross.
Jesus will also then be known as “The mighty God.” In order to establish his kingdom with judgment and justice, all power has been given to him in heaven and earth. (Matt. 28:18) Those who sincerely strive to obey the just laws of the kingdom then in operation will be assisted and encouraged in “the way of holiness.” But the unclean, the unregenerate, the disobedient, shall not pass over it and gain life; these shall be destroyed from among the people. The power of the kingdom shall be extended over all the earth and over all peoples, and justice shall be meted out with righteousness.—Isa. 28:17; Acts 17:31
And best of all, Jesus will then be recognized and hailed by all mankind as “The Prince of Peace.” Everlasting life, apart from peace, would be an imperfect blessing for mankind. But Jesus left the heavenly realms, suffering as man’s Redeemer, not only to bring life, but also peace—peace between God and man, peace in all the earth, peace between man and his fellow. Then will come to pass the fulfillment of that marvelous promise foretold by the heavenly host when they joyously sang, at the Savior’s birth in Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” And the promise is sure! for the prophet tells us that “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”—Isa. 9:7