The Government That Will Bring Paradise

When Jesus was on earth, he told his followers to pray for God’s Kingdom: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matthew 6:9, 10) He also spoke constantly about “the good news of the kingdom.” (Matthew 4:23) In fact, he spoke more about the Kingdom than he did about anything else. Why? Because the Kingdom is the instrument that God will use to solve the problems that make life so difficult today. By means of the Kingdom, God will soon put an end to wars, hunger, disease, and crime, and he will bring about unity and peace.

Would you like to live in a world like that? If so, then you should read this brochure. In it, you will learn that the Kingdom is a government, but it is better than any government that has ever ruled over mankind. You will also see the thrilling way that God gradually explained to his servants his purposes regarding the Kingdom. In addition, you will see how the Kingdom can help you even today.

In fact, you can become a subject of God’s Kingdom right now. But before you choose to do this, you will need to know more about it. So we encourage you to examine this brochure. Everything it will tell you about the Kingdom is taken from the Bible.

First of all, let us see why we need God’s Kingdom so much.

 In the beginning of human history, God made man perfect and put him in a paradise. At that time there was no need of the Kingdom.

However, Adam and Eve, our first parents, listened to Satan, a rebellious angel. He told them lies about God and caused them also to rebel against God. Thus they deserved to die, because “the wages sin pays is death.”​—Romans 6:23.

An imperfect, sinful man cannot have perfect children. So all of Adam’s children were born imperfect, sinful, dying.​—Romans 5:12.

From then on, humans needed God’s Kingdom to help them recover from the curse of sin and death. The Kingdom will also clear God’s name from the lies Satan told against it.

 Jehovah God promised that a special “seed” (or offspring) would be born to rescue mankind from sin. (Genesis 3:15) This “seed” would be the King of God’s Kingdom.

Who would that be?

About 2,000 years after Adam sinned, there lived a very faithful man named Abraham. Jehovah told Abraham to leave his own city and live in tents in the land of Palestine.

Abraham did all that Jehovah told him to do, including one very difficult thing. Jehovah told him to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar.

Jehovah did not really want a human sacrifice. But he wanted to know how much Abraham loved him. Abraham was at the point of killing Isaac when Jehovah stopped him.

Because of Abraham’s great faith, Jehovah promised to give the land of Palestine to his offspring and said that the promised Seed would be through his line, and that of his son Isaac.​—Genesis 22:17, 18; 26:4, 5.

 Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Jehovah said that the promised Seed would come through Jacob.​—Genesis 28:13-15.

Jacob, whom Jehovah also named Israel, had 12 sons, all of whom eventually had children. So the children of Abraham started to multiply.​—Genesis 46:8-27.

When there was a bad famine in the area, Jacob and his family moved down to Egypt at the invitation of Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt.​—Genesis 45:16-20.

In Egypt it was revealed that the promised Seed would be a descendant of Jacob’s son Judah.​—Genesis 49:10.

Eventually Jacob died, and his offspring grew in number until they were like a nation. Then the Egyptians became afraid of them and made them slaves.​—Exodus 1:7-14.

 Eventually Jehovah sent Moses, a very faithful man, to demand that the Pharaoh of that time let the children of Israel go free.​—Exodus 6:10, 11.

Pharaoh refused, so Jehovah brought ten plagues on the Egyptians. As the last plague, he sent the angel of death to kill all the firstborn sons of Egypt.​—Exodus, chapters 7 to 12.

God told the Israelites that if they would kill a lamb for their evening meal and put some of its blood on their doorposts, the angel of death would pass over their houses. So the Israelite firstborn were saved.​—Exodus 12:1-35.

As a result, Pharaoh ordered the Israelites out of Egypt. But then he changed his mind and chased after them to bring them back.

Jehovah opened a way for the Israelites to escape through the Red Sea. And when Pharaoh and his armies tried to follow them, they were drowned.​—Exodus 15:5-21.

 Jehovah led the sons of Israel to a mountain named Sinai in the desert. There, he gave them his Law and said that if they would keep it, they would become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Thus, in the course of time, the Israelites had the opportunity to be an important part of God’s Kingdom.​—Exodus 19:6; 24:3-8.

After the Israelites had been at Mount Sinai about a year, Jehovah led them toward Palestine, the land that he had promised to Abraham their forefather.

In Palestine, God later allowed the Israelites to be ruled by kings. Then, God had a kingdom on earth.

 The second king of Israel was David, a descendant of Judah. David conquered all of Israel’s enemies, and he made Jerusalem the capital city of the nation.

Events in David’s reign show that when Jehovah supports a king, no earthly ruler can conquer him.

Jehovah said that the promised Seed would be one of David’s descendants.​—1 Chronicles 17:7, 11, 14.

Solomon, David’s son, ruled after him. He was a wise king, and Israel prospered under his reign.

Solomon also built a fine temple to Jehovah in Jerusalem. Conditions in Israel under Solomon’s reign show us some of the blessings God’s coming Kingdom will bring to mankind.​—1 Kings 4:24, 25.

 However, many of the kings after Solomon were very unfaithful.

But while David’s descendants were still ruling in Jerusalem, Jehovah used his prophet Isaiah to tell of a future Son of David who would rule the whole earth in faithfulness. This would be the promised Seed.​—Isaiah 9:6, 7.

The prophet Isaiah foretold His rule as being even more glorious than Solomon’s.​—Isaiah, chapters 11 and 65.

Now, more than ever, God’s servants wondered who this Seed would be.

 Before the Seed came, though, the kings of Israel became so wicked that in 607 B.C.E. Jehovah allowed the nation to be conquered by the Babylonians, and most of the people were exiled to Babylon. But God had not forgotten his promise. The Seed would still appear in David’s line.​—Ezekiel 21:25-27.

What happened to Israel showed that although a wise, faithful human king could bring benefits, these benefits were limited. Faithful men die and their successors may not be faithful. What was the solution? The promised Seed.

Eventually, after thousands of years, the Seed appeared. Who was it?

 An angel from God gave the answer to an unmarried Israelite girl named Mary. He told her she was to have a son whose name would be Jesus. Here is what the angel said:

“This one will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; and Jehovah God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule as king.”​—Luke 1:32, 33.

So Jesus was to be the promised Seed and eventually the King of God’s Kingdom. But why was Jesus different from faithful men who had lived before?

Jesus was born by a miracle. His mother was a virgin, and he had no human father. Jesus had lived previously in heaven and God’s holy spirit, or active force, transferred Jesus’ life from heaven into the womb of Mary. Hence, he did not inherit Adam’s sin. All through his life, Jesus did not sin.​—1 Peter 2:22.

 When he was 30 years old, Jesus was baptized.

He told people about God’s Kingdom and eventually introduced himself as the King of that Kingdom.​—Matthew 4:23; 21:4-11.

He also performed many miracles.

He healed the sick.​—Matthew 9:35.

He miraculously fed the hungry.​—Matthew 14:14-22.

He even raised the dead.​—John 11:38-44.

These miracles show what kind of things Jesus will do for mankind as King of God’s Kingdom.

 Do you remember how King David had made Jerusalem the capital city of his kingdom? Jesus explained that God’s Kingdom would not be on earth, but in heaven. (John 18:36) That is why the Kingdom is called “heavenly Jerusalem.”​—Hebrews 12:22, 28.

Jesus outlined the laws that those who would be subjects of the Kingdom would have to obey. These laws are now in the Bible. The most important laws were that people should love God and love one another.​—Matthew 22:37-39.

Jesus also revealed that he would not be alone in ruling his Kingdom. There would be humans chosen to go to heaven and rule there with him. (Luke 12:32; John 14:3) How many would there be? Revelation 14:1 answers: 144,000.

 If only 144,000 go to heaven to rule with Jesus, what can the rest of mankind hope for?

The Bible says: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”​—Psalm 37:29.

Those who will live on earth forever are called the “other sheep.”​—John 10:16.

So there are two hopes. There are 144,000 invited by Jehovah God to go to heaven to rule with Jesus Christ. But millions of others have the sure hope of living on earth forever as subjects of his Kingdom.​—Revelation 5:10.

 Satan hated Jesus and opposed him. After Jesus had preached for three and a half years, Satan had him arrested and killed by being nailed to a stake. Why did God allow this?

Remember, because of being descended from Adam, we all sin and deserve to die.​—Romans 6:23.

Remember, too, that because of the miraculous way Jesus was born, he was perfect and did not deserve to die. However, God allowed Satan to ‘bruise Jesus in the heel,’ to kill him. But God raised him to life again as an immortal spirit. Since he still had the right to perfect human life, he could now use this to ransom us humans from sin.​—Genesis 3:15; Romans 5:12, 21; Matthew 20:28.

 To help us fully understand what Jesus’ sacrifice means, the Bible speaks about it by means of prophetic patterns.

For example, do you remember how Jehovah told Abraham to sacrifice his son, as a test of his love?

This was a prophetic pattern of the sacrifice of Jesus. It showed how Jehovah’s love for mankind was so great that he allowed his Son, Jesus, to die for us that we might have life.​—John 3:16.

Do you remember the way Jehovah rescued the Israelites from Egypt and saved their firstborn by having the angel of death pass over them?​—Exodus 12:12, 13.

This was a prophetic pattern. Just as the blood of the lamb meant life for the firstborn of the Israelites, Jesus’ shed blood means life for those who believe in him. And as the events of that night meant freedom for the Israelites, the death of Jesus affords mankind freedom from sin and death.

That is why Jesus is called “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”​—John 1:29.

 However, while Jesus was on earth he also gathered disciples and trained them to preach the good news of the Kingdom, even after his death.​—Matthew 10:5; Luke 10:1.

These were the first humans chosen by God to rule with Jesus in his Kingdom.​—Luke 12:32.

Do you remember that God promised the Jews that if they would keep the Law, they would be “a kingdom of priests”? Now they had a chance to be part of God’s Kingdom and serve as heavenly priests if they would accept Jesus. But most of them rejected Jesus.

So from that time on, the Jews were no longer God’s chosen nation; Palestine was no longer the Promised Land.​—Matthew 21:43; 23:37, 38.

From Jesus’ day till ours, Jehovah has been gathering these ones who would reign in heaven with Jesus. There are still a few thousand of them alive on earth today. We call them the anointed remnant.​—Revelation 12:17.

 Now, you are beginning to see what God’s Kingdom is. It is a government in heaven, its King is Jesus Christ, and he is joined by 144,000 people from the earth. It will rule over faithful mankind on earth and will have the power to bring peace to the earth.

After his death, Jesus was resurrected and went to heaven. There, he waited for God to say when it would be time for him to start ruling as King of God’s Kingdom. (Psalm 110:1) When would that be?

 Sometimes Jehovah sent people dreams in order to tell them things about his Kingdom.

In Daniel’s day, Jehovah sent such a dream to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. It was of a huge tree.​—Daniel 4:10-37.

The tree was cut down and the trunk was banded for seven years.

The tree represented Nebuchadnezzar. Just as the trunk was banded for seven years, Nebuchadnezzar lost his sanity for seven years. Then his sanity was restored.

All of this was a prophetic pattern. Nebuchadnezzar pictured Jehovah’s worldwide rulership. At first, this was exercised through descendants of King David in Jerusalem. When Babylon conquered Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., that line of kings was interrupted. There would never be another king in David’s line “until he comes who has the legal right.” (Ezekiel 21:27) That was Jesus Christ.

How long would it be from 607 B.C.E. until Jesus would begin to reign? Seven prophetic years. That is, 2,520 years. (Revelation 12:6, 14) And 2,520 years from 607 B.C.E. brings us to 1914 C.E.

 So Jesus began to rule in the heavens in 1914. What did that mean?

The Bible tells us by means of a vision seen by the apostle John.

He saw a woman in heaven give birth to a man-child.​—Revelation 12:1-12.

The woman pictured God’s heavenly organization, made up of all the angelic servants of God in heaven. The man-child pictures God’s Kingdom. This was “born” in 1914.

What happened next? The first thing Jesus did as King was to cast Satan, and those angels that rebelled with him, out of heaven down to the earth.​—Revelation 12:9.

The Bible tells us the result: “Be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.”​—Revelation 12:12.

So when Jesus began to reign in heaven, his enemies became very active on earth. As the Bible foretold, he began to rule in the midst of his enemies.​—Psalm 110:1, 2.

 What would this mean for mankind?

Jesus told us: wars, food shortages, diseases, and earthquakes.​—Matthew 24:7, 8; Luke 21:10, 11.

We have seen these things happen since 1914, which is another reason why we know that the Kingdom began to rule then.

The book of Revelation tells us that men would be “ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) We have seen that, too, especially since 1914.

The apostle Paul added that people would be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, . . . disobedient to parents, . . . not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control.”​—2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Now you know why life is so hard today. Satan has been very active. But God’s Kingdom has been active too.

 Soon after 1914, the remnant of those who hope to rule in heaven with Jesus began telling the good news that the Kingdom was established. This work has now spread throughout the earth, as Jesus said it would.​—Matthew 24:14.

What is the purpose of this preaching work?

First, it is to tell people about God’s Kingdom.

Second, it is to help people decide whether they want to be subjects of the Kingdom.

Jesus said that in our days all mankind would be divided into sheeplike and goatlike people.​—Matthew 25:31-46.

The “sheep” would be those who love him and his brothers. The “goats” would be those who do not.

The “sheep” would get everlasting life and the “goats” would not.

This dividing work is being accomplished by the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom.

 Here is a prophecy by the prophet Isaiah.

“And it must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it all the nations must stream.”​—Isaiah 2:2.

Mankind is now facing “the final part of the days.”

Jehovah’s “house” of worship is “lifted up” above false religions.

“And many peoples will certainly go and say: ‘Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.’”​—Isaiah 2:3.

So, many from all nations come to worship Jehovah and invite others to join them. They learn how to act in a way that Jehovah wants.

“And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”​—Isaiah 2:4.

Those who worship Jehovah are united and peaceable.

 The result of this activity by God’s Kingdom is that now there are almost three million people worldwide who are subjects of the Kingdom.

They are gathered around the remnant, the remaining ones of those whose hope is to go to heaven and rule with Christ.

They receive spiritual food through God’s organization.​—Matthew 24:45-47.

They are an international brotherhood of Christians who truly love one another.​—John 13:35.

They enjoy peace of mind, a hope for the future.​—Philippians 4:7.

 Soon, the good news will have been preached. The “sheep” will have been gathered. Then what will the Kingdom do?

Do you remember that faithful King David conquered all the enemies of God’s people? Well, King Jesus will do the same.

King Nebuchadnezzar once had a dream of a huge image that symbolized all the world empires from his day to ours.

Then he saw a stone carved out of a mountain, and it smashed the image to pieces. The stone represented God’s Kingdom.

This means the destruction of the present wicked system of things.​—Daniel 2:44.

 Here are some things that the Kingdom will overturn.

False religion will disappear, like a millstone thrown into the sea.​—Revelation 18:21.

That is why all lovers of God are encouraged to get out of false religion NOW.​—Revelation 18:4.

Next King Jesus will “strike the nations . . . and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron.”​—Revelation 19:15.

Consequently, Jehovah’s Witnesses, although they pay their taxes and obey the laws of the land, do not get involved in politics.

Finally, Satan himself, the great “dragon,” is thrown into the abyss.​—Revelation 20:2, 3.

Only the “sheep,” those who submit to Jesus as King, will survive this tribulation.​—Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46.

 The apostle John saw a vision of the “sheep” who survive the tribulation.

“I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands.”​—Revelation 7:9.

The “great crowd” is made up of all those who respond to the preaching of the good news.

They “come out of the great tribulation.”​—Revelation 7:14.

The “palm branches” show that they welcome Jesus as their King.

Their wearing “white robes” pictures that they have faith in Jesus’ sacrifice.

The “Lamb” is Jesus Christ.

 What blessings do they then enjoy? Do you remember the happiness in Israel when faithful King Solomon was reigning? This gave a small picture of the happiness on earth under King Jesus.

There will be literal peace among mankind and between men and the animals, just as Isaiah foretold.​—Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 11:6-9.

Just as Jesus healed the sick while he was on earth, so he will remove sickness from all mankind.​—Isaiah 33:24.

Just as he fed the multitudes, so he will abolish food shortages from all mankind.​—Psalm 72:16.

Just as he raised the dead, so he will raise those dead ones who did not have a full opportunity to submit themselves to God’s Kingdom.​—John 5:28, 29.

Gradually, he will bring mankind back to the perfection that Adam lost.

 Is that not a wonderful future? Would you like to see it? If so, work so that you can submit yourself now to God’s Kingdom and become one of the “sheep.”

Study the Bible and get to know Jehovah God and Jesus Christ.​—John 17:3.

Associate with others who are also subject to the Kingdom.​—Hebrews 10:25.

Learn the laws of the Kingdom and obey them.​—Isaiah 2:3, 4.

Dedicate your life to serve Jehovah, and be baptized.​—Matthew 28:19, 20.

Avoid bad things, such as stealing, lying, immorality, and drunkenness, which displease Jehovah God.​—1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Share in the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom.​—Matthew 24:14.

 Then with God’s help, you will see the Paradise that Adam lost for his descendants restored, and you will see this promise fulfilled: “I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”​—Revelation 21:3, 4.

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607 B.C.E. 1914 C.E.

B.C.E. | C.E.

500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,520

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Abraham

Isaac

Jacob

Judah

David

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144,000

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Adam

Jesus