A New Earth

THE APPROACH OF the year 2000 has been viewed by many as a date which could have significant change. On September 8, 1997, Newsweek published an article which reviewed dates set at various times, in particular those dealing with a complete destruction of life upon earth. Is the doomsday concept taught in the Bible? We say not. An abundance of scriptures can be found which contradict the thought of doomsday.

PRAYING FOR THE KINGDOM

Jesus taught his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom when he instructed them to say, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6: 10) Christians have been voicing this prayer for twenty centuries but have not seen its fulfillment. All desired to know when that kingdom would come. The Bible contains much chronological data which have been assembled to determine the date.

However, there are pieces missing and assumptions to be made. Apparently God did not look favorably upon this desire of men to know the time, and has kept it in his own power. What is far more important is the understanding of that kingdom and our devotion to it. Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”—Matt. 6:33

God has given us many enlightening prophecies concerning this wonderful kingdom. One of these relating to the coming of the great Messiah and King in the kingdom: “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.”—Isa. 9:6,7

The Lord has recorded numerous prophecies to give us assurance that his kingdom will be established in the earth, and in many instances this kingdom is referred to as a mountain—‘the mountain of the Lord’. In Daniel, the second chapter, this mountain, according to Daniel’s prophecy, first appears as a stone which smites the unholy kingdoms and governments of this world and becomes a great mountain to fill the whole earth. Verse 45 of this chapter gives us a wonderful assurance concerning the kingdom of God. We quote: “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” In Isaiah, chapter 25, the kingdom of God is likened to a mountain. “In this mountain,” we read, “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.”—Isa. 25:6

BLESSINGS OF THE KINGDOM

Blessings of the kingdom are set forth with some detail in Micah 4:1-4. Verse 1 reads, “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.” It is fitting that the Lord should liken his coming kingdom to a mountain. These prophecies were addressed in the first instance to the nation of Israel, and the nation of Israel was accustomed to being ruled from a mountain. Mount Zion of Jerusalem was the national headquarters of the government which ruled over Israel. It was here in this mountain that David exercised his governmental control over the affairs of Israel, the chosen people of God. So when in this and other prophecies God spoke of his mountain being established in the top of the mountains, it would be easy for the devoted Israelite to realize that his God, Jehovah, was promising to set up a more powerful kingdom on earth than had ever been known before, and this is what it will truly be.

In Micah’s prophecy of the establishment of the mountain of the Lord, an additional point of explanation and interest is introduced. Here we read that this mountain of the Lord is the “mountain of the house of the Lord.” (Mic. 4: 1) This also was familiar language to the Israelites. The Lord’s ruling house in Israel was headed by David and his successors. But David and his fleshly successors will not be the ruling house of the future kingdom of God on earth. In many instances in the past, ruling houses over nations and empires consisted of a family arrangement in which the right to rule passed on at the death of the king to another member of the same family.

This is the manner in which the prophetic house of the Lord functions. This house of the Lord is composed of his sons, Jesus being supreme among them. We read that when Jesus came at his First Advent, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power [authority] to become the sons of God.” (John 1:11,12) Under Jesus, these were the first members of God’s ruling house. But in all Israel there were not enough who received Jesus to have this honor bestowed upon them; so in God’s due time he turned to the Gentiles, through the preaching of the Gospel, to find those worthy of completing the foreordained number that would make up his ruling house.

Much is written in the New Testament about those who became believers since the First Advent of Jesus, and who through the power of the Holy Spirit do become the children, or sons, of God. To these the promise is that if they continue faithful they will reign with Christ in God’s ruling house. (Rom. 8:16-19) “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

THE DISCIPLES’ QUESTION

After the crucifixion and death of Jesus, he was resurrected from the dead as a spirit being. He did not ascend immediately to heaven, but stayed forty days with his disciples, manifesting himself to them on different occasions. At the last manifestation the disciples asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”—Acts 1:6-8

It has been reasoned by some Bible Students that the information God keeps ‘in his own power’ was revealed to the church class when the power of the Holy Spirit was given to them on the Day of Pentecost. The two Greek words, however, translated by the English word ‘power’ are two different words.

The first use of the word ‘power’ by Jesus is the Greek word exousia, attributed to the Father, which means ‘privilege’ and ‘authority’. Also included in these definitions are words such as ‘capacity’, ‘competency’, ‘jurisdiction’, ‘liberty’, ‘right’, ‘strength’. No matter what we select as the proper translation of this Greek word, it appears that God knows some things alone, and reveals them to certain ones on a ‘need to know’ basis.

The second use of the word translated ‘power’ comes from the Greek word dunamis, which means ‘power occurring because of a miracle’, and, literally in the word-for-word translation, is ‘from a force’. Other words used are: ‘ability’, ‘abundance’, meaning ‘might’. The miraculous ability to understand the Bible was the giving the Holy Spirit to the apostles and disciples on the Day of Pentecost. Their newfound ability would help them understand God’s Word, but would it include knowing dates?

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT DATES

During the last days of Jesus’ ministry he taught his disciples saying, “Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32) These thoughts are also expressed in Matthew 24:36. It has been reasoned that although Jesus, as the man Christ Jesus, did not know the exact time of events, he would know once he was given the task to “open the seals” (Rev. 5:9) of God’s Divine plan of the ages. (vss. 1-10) Did Jesus make dates known to his disciples when he was with them? He gave them many signs that would occur foretelling the time of these events, and told them that by watching for the signs they would know of the proximity of God’s kingdom.

One of those signs was the return of the people of Israel to the land of Palestine, and the establishment of the new nation of Israel. Jesus taught a parable in which Israel is symbolized by a fig tree. Thus, Jesus said, “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. … Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:29-32) We see that Jesus only gave signs, not dates, and left his disciples with the words, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always.”—Luke 21:36

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM

Apparently the reason why God has not given us a date is because he wanted us to be tested in our faith and love for him. In the early days of the Truth Movement, the date 1914 was prominent in the minds of consecrated brethren. When all the events anticipated as occurring by that time did not occur (excepting the end of the Gentile times), many brethren left the movement. They had devoted themselves only to the date 1914, rather than the ‘kingdom of God and its righteousness’. Since 1914, God continues to seek ‘a people for his name’.—Acts 15:14

When all who have been called have been found faithful, the kingdom will arrive on time by God’s time clock, not by ours. It will bring the blessing of all the families of the earth. As the Apostle John has written, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.”—Rev. 21:1

We should not complain if God has not given us a definite date. It is plain that his authority and glory will not be given to another. As it is written: “I will not give my glory unto another.” (Isa. 48:11) God’s promises, his commandments, and his testimonies are sure. (I Kings 8:56; Ps. 111:7; Ps. 19:7) His wonderful plan of the ages will come to pass as he has promised in his Holy Word. With increased faith let us “watch and pray” (Mark 13:33), until the prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven” (Matt. 6:10) becomes a reality.

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