The Next Rulership for All the Earth
Chapter 1
The Next Rulership for All the Earth
1. Lovers of righteous rulership are thrilled at the thought of what? Why?
LOVERS of righteous rulership are thrilled at the mere thought of it. The day of the long-promised world government is dawning. Within our favored generation that government will rise like the sun in a cloudless sky to flood the earth with its welcome light, ushering in a time of radiant living for all mankind. What is brought to light should delight our eyes.
2. What delights our eyes about the state of human relationships?
2 A transformed scene brightens before our eyes. Human relations were once so difficult. But look! What happens under the greatly needed world government when in control? Everywhere the oneness of the human family is acknowledged and abided by in all honesty and happiness. Everyone is a friend to everybody else. The bonds of family relationship are felt to the depths of each one’s soul. Along with this enjoyable fellowship, there is a fine spirit of helpfulness with sincere interest in the others’ welfare. Divisive racism is no longer rampant. All make up one human race, with common blood ties, all being of one origin.
3. Why is it that they all understand one another when speaking?
3 Listen! All the subjects of the world government are understanding one another. They are speaking a common world language! Why, that is like going back to the original speech pattern of the human family! Back until some forty-one centuries ago all humans spoke the same language. All men had the one vocabulary, making it possible for them to understand one another’s speech. This made it easy for them to work together in any common project. Then, suddenly, there came a confusion of language. Many languages sprang up! Local dialects developed. O what division this brought! National languages became a treasure jealously guarded and insisted upon for preservation. This is something that only the world government can deal with successfully. It will!
4. Of what are they citizens, and what is their language?
4 The world government takes away all language barriers between its subjects. National pride of language is wiped out. National distinctions are gone! No one is a citizen of this or that nation. All are world citizens, yes, citizens of one new world. The one language that they all speak for mutual understanding is the language recognized and used by the world government, the official language. It is mankind’s original language, which everybody on earth spoke for the first eighteen hundred years of human existence. That original language was developed to a high degree and it never did really die out, for a small minority of people persisted in its use, also the greatest book on earth preserving it.
5. What changes are there for those who must travel far from home?
5 Oneness of language makes it easier for traveling abroad. Does a person’s occupation or profession call for him to do some traveling to parts of the earth distant from his home? How wonderful it is, how easygoing it is for him to have no further need of a passport! He does not need to have a health certificate; he does not have to cross international borders and go through immigration checkpoints and through customs inspection. There is no tax on imports. There are no money exchange rates to worry about and to figure out, there being no different currencies in use in the territories formerly under national rulerships. For a person to escape going through entrance or exit formalities along with visas of permission, he would formerly have had to get off the earth. But who wants to do this? However, world government brings a change on that score.
6. What about world government and conflicting laws here and there?
6 Surely, though, there must be different laws and ordinances for the different localities on earth. No, not at all! That used to be the case when there were city, county, state or provincial and national lawmaking bodies. At that time the public sale and drinking of alcoholic beverages were unlawful in one county, but in the adjoining county there was no prohibition. In one country the importation of certain harmful drugs was strictly forbidden, but in another the growing of plants and the production of harmful drugs and the sale and exportation of such drugs were legal operations and brought financial income to the government that legalized such. In one land dominated by a certain religious faith it was perfectly all right for a man to have two or more wives, but in another land a man could be brought into the law courts and punished for being merely a bigamist. Laws differed from country to country, and the legal profession, the lawyers, the barristers, the legal consultants abounded. But now in the new order under world government, there is but the one set of laws for all the earth.
7. What is to be said about the “medicine” then administered?
7 Another thing is also very noticeable under the new world government. The general health of the people appears to be getting better all the time. There is no mistaking this. The health of the obedient subjects of the world government is really improving. Why, aches and pains are vanishing, wrinkles are disappearing from once worried or timeworn faces. Even those bent over from weakness and old age are gradually straightening up and walking with graceful erectness. All around us there are signs that the persons of advanced years are returning to the days of their youth. Evidently, everyone is enjoying the privilege of living, and each new day is greeted with thankfulness for the added day of life. Bodily infirmity is not increasing as time goes on. Physical forces are building up, and the bodies are not wearing out. Whatever the “medicine” it is that the world government is administering, its medical aid is producing wonders. It will finally bring human perfection.
8. Earth’s changing appearance shows what about weather control?
8 Even mankind’s natural environment is getting better and better. All nature is being rejuvenated. The whole earth is becoming one global beauty spot. The world government has an expert weather bureau that is never wrong. It really has complete weather control. From no part of the earth is there any report of drought or rainfall in ruinous downpours, or cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons. All the forces of nature are being brought into a perfect balance for making the whole earth an exquisite place in which to live. There is no lack of food anywhere, for the earth is yielding its products to the full. Human needs in the way of food are being amply met, and all of this is contributing to the improving health of the people. Freedom from fear of want prevails. The spirit of neighborliness moves all to liberality, to mutual helpfulness and sharing. All speaking the one language, all feeling the close bonds of family relationship, all being fellow citizens subject to the world government, all are joining together in making their earthly home as beautiful a place as possible in which to live together forever.
PERFECT HEALTH FOR ENJOYING LIFE
9. What bodily inequalities will exist at first as to one’s enjoying life?
9 In order to bring an equality to all its subjects for the physical enjoyment of living, the world government engages in a repair work of the bodies and minds of all its loyal subjects. Who is there of us that does not have something wrong with him? As respects body and mind, some are worse off than others. Think of those who have lost one or more limbs of the body. Think of those who have their limbs but who through paralysis derive no pleasure from the use of them. Think of those whose internal organs have been impaired so that their bodies do not function normally. The world government’s take-over of the full management of human affairs may find individuals still afflicted with hideous diseases. Some have eyes that do not literally see, others have ears but live in a soundless realm, others have the organs of speech but cannot use them to communicate with others who can hear articulate speech. Imagine all the bodily inequalities that are bound to exist at first with regard to everyone’s sharing fully in all the joys and blessings of living under the established world government!
10. How is ability to meet the health needs of all demonstrated?
10 How ably this new rulership proves itself equal to the needs of the situation! What a grand contribution it makes to the human perfection that works for perfect living by all its devoted subjects! The lame walk, yes, skip around for joy. Lost arms and legs are miraculously restored. The blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak and sing for sheer joy. Unsightliness about human form and figure disappears. For personal appearance it is a generation of mankind of which the government can rightly be proud. What wonder, then, that there are no hospitals to be found, no insane asylums, no quarantined colonies where persons afflicted with dread contagious diseases are isolated!
11. How did time favor the generation thus enjoying such things?
11 Ah, indeed, life will be worth living then! But why should a generation of mankind that merely happened to be living at a certain time in human history be so favored with the precious opportunity of living in human perfection in a perfect earthly environment? What about the previous generations? What about near relatives who have died of natural causes or other circumstances, yes, the ancestors of all these living subjects of the world government? They yet live in the memories of these living sharers in the blessings of the righteous new order. No less so the world government has in mind those who have returned to the dust of the ground from which the first man was originally taken.
12. How will the world government show itself aware of the dead?
12 The world government does not need any tombstones, mausoleums or other grave markers to remind it of those who were relentlessly claimed by mankind’s common enemy, Death. It is a government for the benefit of not just the living subjects, but also the countless human dead, compared with which the yet living ones are but a small fraction. It has grand purposes for the dead also. It has instilled in the hearts of the living the hope of welcoming back to life under the world government those who sleep the sleep of death in the dust of the ground. It stands ready to give instructions to its living subjects to make warm, loving preparations and provisions for the return of the dead. The world government wants the whole earth comfortably filled with subjects, and the resurrection of the human dead is the main way for carrying out this marvelous government project. In view of its superhuman power, no problem is posed for it by such a thing as the resurrection of all the victims of death.
13. What question about religion does the resurrection stir up?
13 What, though, of all the religious beliefs, ideas and tendencies that the resurrected ones will bring back with them? During their former lifetime on earth, religion had been the most divisive force plaguing mankind. Because of the religious background of the resurrected ones, will not their restoration to life result in a terribly divided world, reviving religious prejudices, hatreds and hostilities of a violent kind?
14. Why will resurrection correct religious thinking of persons raised from the dead?
14 Well, as we look at the earthly scene under the world government, we ask ourselves: ‘Where are the steepled or highly domed religious structures, cathedrals, basilicas, mosques, shrines, the imposing religious images and statues?’ They are gone! Members of today’s generation that are still alive are getting along in unity without all those religious adjuncts. Their form of worship conforms to actual truth. Their faith and practice are what the world government approves of, for these are free of all man-made fables, myths and fanciful legends and fraud. As for the resurrected dead, O how they will be disillusioned, especially those who at death expected to find themselves as angels in heaven or as conscious souls in the flames of a purgatory or hell of eternal torment, or undergoing a transmigration or in a state of Nirvana! Resurrection to life on earth will certainly be a mighty corrective to their religious thinking and understanding.
15. How will resurrected ones be enabled to worship correctly?
15 The resurrected ones will learn that the world government is one of truth, tolerating no religious error. So, they will now be taught the truth and nothing but the truth. Unitedly the whole human race will be able to worship with truth as well as in all sincerity.
16. Why do we see none parading around like priests or clergymen?
16 We have already taken note of the absence of buildings of the former kind that were devoted to religion out of line with truth. So, too, now we see no men and women going around dressed in queer garb like a priestly or clergy class, demanding special treatment and favors and reverence. Those who are resurrected from the dead will not be restored to their former religious stations, with a renewal of religious confusion and strife. Gone are their privileged positions that exalted them over the common people for whom they officiated in palatial religious edifices. Salvation of the ordinary man, woman and child used to be considered dependent upon the services of such dignitaries. But now the world government is charged with caring for the eternal salvation of its earthly subjects in perfect health and happiness upon a Paradise earth. The government’s ability to remove bodily infirmities and even raise the dead to life proves that fact. It is human nature to worship something, and the world government is filling that need by teaching its subjects the pure worship that is life sustaining.
LOCATION OF WORLD GOVERNMENT
17. Despite its location, how does the government prove real?
17 By now we may be wondering, Where on earth is the capital city of this world government? Look where we will on earth, we do not locate it. It has to be somewhere. Yes, but not here on earth. And reasonably so! A world government that can do such grand things of lasting benefit to its subjects certainly ranks higher than any type of human government that has ever ruled on earth. This comparison holds true even in our age of modern science, technology, advanced medicine, mechanized farming and nuclear power. A world government that has to its credit all the marvelous accomplishments discussed earlier displays that it has superhuman power, yes, supernatural abilities. It proves itself to be more than a man-made government. Here on earth, among men, is therefore not the place to look for its location. Its location must be higher than on earth. It must be above us, up in heaven. That is why it is invisible to us here on earth. But by all the good it does to its earthly subjects, it demonstrates itself to be real, existing!
18. Its being heavenly has what effect on its subjects?
18 The fact that the world government is so highly elevated above its earthly subjects serves to increase man’s respect for it. Its rulings are taken more seriously by earthling man. The rightfulness of its sovereignty over all the earth is appreciated, hence submitted to in a humble way. Its wisdom is seen to be far superior to that of any earthly rulership in human history. It has unselfish interest in its earthly subjects. So its running of human affairs is better than that by any earthly government during the preceding six millenniums of man’s history.
19. (a) Why are we earthlings revolving around the Creator of the universe? (b) Why can he set up a world government for us?
19 Well, then, should it seem strange that the world government is heavenly? No; for we should bear in mind that man is not the monarch of all he surveys. Man’s planet Earth is not the center of the universe, but its invisible heavenly Maker is. As a planet, it revolves around a visible center, namely, the sun, some ninety-three million miles away. Our earth and its sun are part of the Milky Way and, as such, they are slowly revolving around the axis of this same magnificent galaxy made up of billions of brilliant suns. Necessarily, then, we who live on earth find ourselves also revolving around the heavenly Maker of our earth, of our solar system, of our Milky Way galaxy, yes, of all galaxies that are known to modern astronomers by means of the most powerful telescopes. Even in a physical sense we inhabiters of tiny Earth are controlled, governed by physical laws of the universe. Why should anyone question, then, that the Maker of all those physical laws that keep the enormous universe in such awe-inspiring harmony and unity is able to set up a perfect government for all the world of mankind?
20. (a) Why is it needful for man’s next rulership to be that world government? (b) What is its primary purpose?
20 Unless the next rulership for all the earth were the world government established by the Maker of all the heavenly galaxies and of us on earth, the human family would be doomed to eternal extinction. The next rulership for all the earth needs to be, indeed it has to be, that of the Creator of all the universe, or else all is lost for us. How glad we can be that it will prove to be the long-promised Government issuing from Him! Every government ever in existence has had a purpose for its being set up and operating. The incoming world government, too, has a purpose, the most glorious of all purposes. First of all, it will prove to man on earth that there is an intelligent, all-wise, all-powerful, all-just, perfectly loving God, the Creator and Sovereign of all the universe. The proof of that, the verification of that, is of first importance, for all things everywhere, living and lifeless, seen and unseen, depend upon Him; they exist and are maintained by Him.
21. What is the secondary purpose of this government, and why?
21 The secondary purpose of this incoming world government is the rescue of the human race from the final outcome of all wrongdoing, namely, death, yes, endless destruction. Not that we puny humans are so important to God, not that he could not get along without us on earth. He could easily do so, but he does not want to do so. Why? All because he loves all of us as his creatures, the work of his hands, and he made us to be perfectly happy in him as our heavenly Father and to be an honor to him.
22. So, what are we interested in knowing, with what benefit?
22 Should that not make us want God’s world government to be the next rulership for all the earth? All of us whose hearts are not hardened and embittered by all the badness of fallen human society should be warmed at heart to the point of saying Yes! We whose hearts are still sensitive to undeserved expressions of divine love will be keenly interested in knowing what assurances from Him we have for expecting him to bring in this righteous world government. Why, also, will He do this within our own generation? Most certain it is that our taking in this knowledge of Him and his greathearted purpose will contribute to our gaining life everlasting in blessed relationship with the incoming world government.
[Study Questions]
[Picture on page 4]
EGYPT
ASSYRIA
BABYLON
MEDO-PERSIA
GREECE
ROME
BRITAIN-AMERICA
UNITED NATIONS
GOD’S KINGDOM
